ESTHER AND BERENICE 
Two Plays 



BY 

JOHN MASEFIELD 



Rosas 
Gallipoli 
Right Royal 
The Faithful 
Selected Poems 
Lost Endeavour 
A Mainsail Haul 
Captain Margaret 
Reynard the Fox 
The Daffodil Fields 
The Old Front Line 
Multitude and Solitude 
Collected Poems and Plays 
Salt Water Poems and Ballads 
Good Friday and Other Poems 
The Tragedy of Pompey the Great 
Philip the King, and Other Poems 
The Tragedy of Man, and Other Poems 
lollingdon downs and other poems 
The Story of a Round-House and Other 
Poems 

The Locked Chest ; and the Sweeps op 

Ninety-eight 
The Everlasting Mercy and the Widow 



IN the Bye Street 



ESTHER AND BERENICE 

TWO PLAYS 



BY 

JOHN MASEFIELD 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1922 

All rights reserved 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



fcfi^* 






Copyright, 1922, 
By JOHN MASEFIELD. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1922. 



Press of 

jr. J. Little & Ives Companj 

New York, U. S. A. 



JAN 27 1922 



This adaptation of "Esther" was produced by Miss 
Penelope Wheeler at Wootton, Berks, on the evening 
of the 5th May, 1921, with the following cast: — 

Esther Miss Penelope Wheeler 

Rachel Miss Geraldine Berkeley 

MoRDECAi Mr. Richard Elwes 

Haman Mr. Kenneth Rae 

Hydaspes Mr. W. H. Nurse 

Ahasuerus Mr. Eric Dance 

Asaph Mr. James Pearce 

Zeresh Mrs. Vidler 

p [Miss Katharine Richards 

^^^^^^ LMiss Judith Masefield 

Guard Mr. P. Venables 

The Play was performed without scenery upon a 
stage hung with curtains. There were exits and entrances 
R. and L. at Back, and an extra exit and approach by 
steps to the stage from Front Centre. 




Avant-scene. 



PREFACE 

I have been asked to write a few words to 
explain why these adaptations of Racine were 
made. 

They were made for the use of a little 
company of amateur players who wished to 
try their art in verse plays, yet found that 
of the many fine poetical plays in the En- 
glish language, not many suited their needs. 
The Elizabethan poetical play needs a large 
cast and a fairly large stage. The Restora- 
tion poetical play is of an old fashion. The 
modem poetical play is usually not enough 
of the stage nor of the people to hold the 
audience to which these players perform. 

The stage upon which this company of 
players performs measures eleven feet by 
thirteen feet, so that no big production is 

vii 



viii PREFACE 

possible. The men players are often kept 
from performing by their work or study, so 
that no play with a large man cast can be 
undertaken. We had produced some half 
dozen plays of different kinds, and had 
learned that the poetical plays were by much 
the most popular. We wanted to do others. 
We wanted, in short, plays in verse that 
were of the theatre, that could be done with 
few properties and no scenery, with small 
casts of from six to nine persons. Knowing 
how keenly sensitive an English audience is 
to verse, we wanted plays with fine situations 
and stirring declamation. The French clas- 
sical tragedies seemed to offer a foundation 
of what we needed, so these versions were 
made. 

The play of Esther is an adaptation, not a 
translation, because in Esther our audience 
asked for something more than the French 
formality allowed. We could make nothing 



PREFACE ix 

of Racine's choruses in this play in transla- 
tion ; after some attempts we gave them up, 
and substituted others. When we came to 
rehearse the play, we found it too short; we 
therefore lengthened it. Berenice is a trans- 
lation. 

John Masefield. 



CHARACTERS 



ESTHEB 

Rachel 

mordecai 

Haman 

Hydaspes 

Ahasuerus 

Asaph 

Zeresh 

Chorus of Jewish Children 

Guards, Etc 



Parts of Acts 1, 3, and 4 of this play are translated 
from the Tragedy of Esther, by Racine. 



PROPERTIES 



ACT I. 



Settle with cushions, to Left. 
Seats for Chorus, Left, with rug. 
Orders for Mordecai, Right. 

ACT II. 

Couch R. for Ahasuerus, with cushions and cover. 

Sword at foot of bed. 

Stool at foot of bed. 

Cup for drink, Left, off. 

Bell for clink, Right, off. 

Drum, Left, off, with the Guards, for their singing. 

Battens to keep couch steady. 

ACT III. 

Settle, bedecked, to the Right, with new covers and 

cushions, as the throne. 
Sceptre, Ahasuerus, Right. 
Roll or scroll, Ahasuerus, Right. 
Spear for Guard, Right. 

ACT rv. 

Throne, bedecked as in Act III, but Centre. 

Fruit and two brass dishes for feast (oranges and 

lemons only). 
Bronze bowls and cups for feast. 
Stool for feast. 

Orders, Right, off, for Ahasuerus, when he goes out. 
Second stool or footstool to Right of throne. 
Signet for Asaph to give to the King, Right. 



ESTHER AND BERENICE 

Two Plays 



ESTHER 



ACT I. 

Scene: — Esther's apartments. 
(Rachel enters back, comes down L. of 
Esther.) 

Esther. 
Rachel, is it you? Thrice happy day, 
blessed heaven, which sends you to my 

prayers. 
You did not know that I was made the 

Queen? 
More than six months my friends have 

sought for you. 
Where have you been? 

{They sit centre.) 



2 ESTHER 

Rachel. 
I heard that you were dead, 
And hearing this, I lived most miserably, 
Until a prophet told me, "Do not weep. 
But rise, leave this, and take the Shushan 

road; 
There you will see your Esther crowned the 

Queen. 
And on your way comfort the wretched 

tribes; 
Tell them the day approaches when our God 
Will send His comfort with a powerful arm." 
I heard his words, and hurried to the palace. 
Marvellous it is that proud Ahasuerus 
Has crowned his captive, made a Jewess 

Queen. 
by what hidden ways, what strange 

events. 
Has Heaven led you to this great posi- 
tion? 



ESTHER 3 

Esther. 
Have they not told you of the great disgrace 
Of the proud Vashti, Queen before my 

coming? 
The King divorced her, but when she was 

gone 
His mind was troubled, and he sought for 

one 
To bring him comfort. 
They sought throughout the world in every 

land 
To find a Queen. 

I, as an orphan, lived alone and hidden 
Under the care of watchful Mordecai: 
He is my uncle, and he tended me. 
Sad for the trouble of the captive Jews, 
He told me all his secret plans, and I 
Obeyed his wish, and sought to be the Queen. 
Who could express the plots and counter- 
plots 



4 ESTHER 

Of all these courtiers, striving for the honour, 
Striving to catch Ahasuerus' eyes. 
At last Ahasuerus' order came to me, 
And I appeared before the mighty King. 
Long time he watched me in a sombre 

silence. 
Then gently spoke: "You shall be Queen,'' 

he said. 
And crowned me with his royal diadem. 
Then followed days of joys and festivals; 
Esther was Queen, and seated in the purple ; 
Half of the world was subject to her 

sceptre. 
But grass is growing in Jerusalem, 
The stones are scattered from the holy 

Temple, 
The God of Israel's worship is no more. 

Rachel. 
Have you not told the King your troubles, 

Esther? 



ESTHER 6 

Esther. 
The King? Even now he knows not that I 

am a Jewess, 
For Mordecai keeps me secret still. 

Rachel. 
Can Mordecai come about the Court? 

Esther. 
His love for me finds out a thousand ways 
To send advice, and me to ask for it. 
A Father has less care for his own son. 
Already by good Mordecai's cunning 
I have laid bare to the King the treacherous 

plots 
Made by two slaves against him. 
Meanwhile my love for our beloved race 
Has filled this palace with young Jewesses. 
Here I can care for them and teach their 

souls. 
Among them, putting by my queenly pride, 



> 



6 ESTHER 

I bow myself before the feet of God; 
I hide from all the Persians who they are. 
(Calls.) Come! Come, my daughters, 
Companions here of my captivity. 
(Enter Chorus, Left : bow slightly, and come 

down to front Left. They stand and 

speak standing.) 

Rachel. 
Innocent children, may God give you peace. 

Esther. 
My daughters, sing us one of those sweet 

psalms 
That teU of Zion. 

1st Chorus. 
We cannot sing of Zion without tears. 

2nd Chorus. 
How can we sing the happy songs of home 
In this strange land? 



ESTHER 7 

1st Chorus. 

All day and every day 
The memory of old pleasure comes to us, 
Old happy days at home with father and 

mother, 
Our games and birthday feasts, and times at 

night 
When lamps were lit. 

Rachel. 
It is too true; their hearts are breaking, 

Esther. 
We exiled captives cannot sing of home. 

Esther. 
Sing of the war, and our captivity. 

1st Chorus. 
The fulness of our hearts is all we have, 
We can sing that. 

1st Chorus. 
A myriad Persians came against our town, 
Many in number as the blades of grass: 



8 ESTHER 

They broke the ramparts of the city down, 
They robbed our Temple of its wealth of 
brass. 

They made the captains of our soldiers yield, 
They took our Kings and Princes captive 
there. 
They blinded them, and killed them in the 
field. 
They made us slaves: they gave us loads 
to bear. 

Then, on a day, the Persian trumpets 
sounded ; 
They brought us from the city. Even as a 
beast 
Bearing a too great burden, we were hounded 
Far from our home away into the East. 

And, looking back, even as we topped a rise^ 
We saw, far, far behind, our ruined city 



ESTHER 9 

Burning, a spoil to warriors without pity, 
And we, the homeless slaves, the warriors' 
prize. 

2nd Chorus. 

Now many a day has passed, and here as 
slaves 
We toil, with breaking hearts, by tears 
made blind; 
Thinking of our old homes, our fathers' 
graves. 
Lost, like our chance of life, our peace of 
mind. 

Now no foot falls in the houses of our fathers, 
But the grass grows green and the fountain 
pipes are filled 
With the ashes, and the ruin, and the burnt- 
out rafters. 
And where once our Kings caroused the 
sparrows build. 



10 ESTHER 

{Enter Mordecai, Right. He comes down 
below Rachel. He has his face hidden.) 

Esther. 
What profane man dares come into this 

place? 
Mordecai ! Uncle ! Is it you ? 
An angel of the Lord has helped you here. 
But why so sad? 
Why are you wearing sackcloth 
All strewn with ashes? 

Mordecai. 
wretched Queen ! 

(He turns away from Queen.) 
ghastly fortune of the innocent Jews! 
Read, read the awful order that condemns us. 
We are all lost, all ruined. 
(Rachel down to Chorus behind Esther.) 

Esther. 
O Heaven! my blood is frozen in my veins! 



ESTHER 11 

MORDECAI. 

They are about to massacre the Jews. 
All of the Jewish nation is condemned. 
Haman, the great King's favourite, plotted 

this; 
The King, believing him, has signed the edict. 
He gives his orders and in all his lands 
To-morrow is appointed for our murder. 

{Alarm in Chorus.) 
None of us will be spared, nor sex, nor age, 
All of us will be killed and cast aside. 
At the fifth hour to-morrow afternoon 
The murder will begin. 

Esther. 
O Heaven who sees such plots, 
Hast thou forgotten us? 

Rachel. 
Heaven, who can guard us if thou dost not 
jguard? 



12 ESTHER 

MORDECAI. 

Now, Esther, leave all weeping to these chil- 
dren ; 
You are our only hope, and you must save us. 
The time is short and all of us are doomed ; 
You must go forth and dare to tell the King 
That you yourself are Jewish. 

Esther. 

Alas! you do not know what awful laws 
Keep timid mortals from the awful King. 
Death is the doom of any daring soul 
Who comes before the King, not being bid- 
den. 
Unless the King think fit to stretch his 

sceptre 
For him to kiss. 

All living souls are subject to this law. 
Even I, his Queen, am subject to this law. 
If I his Queen desire to speak with him. 



ESTHER 13 

He must first call for me, 
Or send for me. 

MORDECAI. 

What! when you see your country at death's 

door, 
Is your own life so blessed to you, Esther? 
Is not your life due to the Jewish race, 
Or due to God Who gave it? 
Who knows, if to the throne you bend your 

steps 
To save the Jews, God may protect you there. 
happy you, to risk your life for God! 
The God Who vanquishes the kings of earth, 
At Whose great Voice the sea flies, the sky 

trembles. 
If He permitted Haman's wicked plot. 
Doubtless it was to prove your holy zeal. 
He will vanquish Haman, break our chains, 
By the most weak hand in His universe 



14 ESTHER 

And you, if you do not accept this deed, 

Will die with all your race. 

(Chorus hands out in entreaty to Esther.) 

Esther. 
If I accept the deed, 

And if I see the King and live to tell him 
That I am Jewish, he will surely kill me 
For having kept it secret until now. 

MORDECAI. 

You could not have been Queen had it been 

known. 
I bade you keep the secret for that reason; 
Rightly, I judged it then. 

Esther. 
But it proves wrongly, 
It ruins our last hope. 

MORDECAI. 

It is a hope, 

Our only hope, and you must do it, Esther. 



ESTHER 15 

Esther. 
God, Thou seest the spears that ring us in ! 

Rachel. 
Esther, dear friend, for these sweet children's 

sakes 
Dare do this deed. Think, Esther; but for 

you 
Their tender limbs will pasture the wild 

beasts, 
And these most innocent lips that sing God's 

praise 
Be silenced, and our Zion desolate ever. 
I beseech you, hasten to the King! 

The Chorus. 
Save us, great Queen ! Beseech the King to 
save us! 

Esther. 
Go ! let the Jews in Shushan pray for me, 
And watch all night, and keep a solemn fast. 



16 ESTHER 

Now it is night; to-morrow at the dawn, 
Contented well to die, if die I must, 
I'll go, and offer me in sacrifice. 

(They veil. Mordecai out here.) 
sovereign Lord, kept here among the 

pagans. 
Thou knowest how I loathe their heathen 

rites; 
Thou knowest that this crown, which I must 

wear 
In solemn feasts, I spurn beneath my feet 
When I'm alone, preferring ashes to it. 

Lord, I waited for Thy word to come. 
Now has the moment come, and I obey; 

1 go to dare to stand before the King. 

It is for Thee I go ; Lord, come with me, 
To this fierce lion who knows not Thy law; 
Grant that he be not angry, let me charm 

him; 
Lord, turn his rage against our enemies. 



ESTHER 17 

(During this speech Esther comes Right 
down to foot of stage.) 

1st Chorus. 
Deliver us from this threatened death, 

heaven; 
Out of this body of death in which we dwell, 
O Spirit, set us free. 

2nd Chorus. 
For here, as slaves, 

We cannot sing thy praise, we cannot keep 
Thy laws, but live in dread and in despair. 

Rachel. 
We had the past. We lived once, long ago. 
We do not live now, save in memory. 
Now even that little penny-weight of life 
Is grudged us, is not spared, is taken from us. 

All. 
O lamentation, misery, woe, woe! 

(Rachel a little at back of Chorus.) 



18 ESTHER 

Chorus. 
2nd Chorus. 

{Spoken sitting.) 
In the troubled dreams a slave has ere I 
waken, 
I can see my city shining as of old, 
Roof and column of the Temple wreathed 
in gold; 
And the ramparts proud as erst, before the 
town was taken, 
And the well-loved living shapes that now 
are cold. 
Then I wake, a slave, and houseless and for- 
saken, 
Chained, an outcast, and a chattel, bought 
and sold. 

1st Chorus. 

{Sitting,) 

Now, for us, no future, but the corn-mill and 

the stranger 



ESTHER 19 

In the foeman's house forever. 
And the cold eyes of a master and the cruel 
eyes of danger, 
And the memory of joys returning never. 

We who once were dainty ones and splendid, 
Now are slaves who grind the mill be- 
neath a master's blow; 
Would that when our fathers ended, we had 
ended, 
That we lay in Zion's soil, at peace with 
those. 

All. 
lamentation, misery, woe, woe! 

1st and 2nd Chorus. 

{Together, standing,) 
Here, from our prison gate, we see again 
The never-ending sand, the Persian plain, 
The long, long road, the stones that we should 
tread 



20 ESTHER 

Were we but free, to our beloved dead. 

And in the Spring the birds fly to the west 
Over those deserts that the mountains 
hem, 

They fly to our dear land; they fly to nest; 
We cannot go with them. 

1st Chorus. 

{Standing.) 

And in Springtime from the windows of the 

tower 

I can see the wild horses in the plain, 

Treading stately but so lightly that they 

never break the flower, 

And they fade at speed to westward and 

they never come again. 

2nd Chorus. 

{Standing.) 

And in Springtime at the quays the men of 

Tyre 



ESTHER 21 

Set their ships towards the west and hoist 
their sail, 
And our hearts cry "Take us with you to the 

land of our desire!" 
And they hear our cry but will not take the 
crier: 
The crying of a slave can be of no avail. 

Together. 

{Move at "Birds.'') 
Birds, horses, sailors, all are free to go 

To seek their homes beyond the wilderness; 
But we, the homeless, only know 

(1st Chorus comes across Right below 
Esther. 2nd Chorus comes L., kneels 
at foot of Esther Centre.) 

Weariful days of wearing-out distress. 
lamentation, misery, woe, woe! 



22 ESTHER 

Esther, Rachel and the Rest. 

{Speaking in a group in Centre.) 
Shall we be ever exiled, must it be 
That we must pass our days as slaves for- 
ever? 
Far from our pleasant land, and never see 

Our sacred Hills and Jordan's blessed river. 
Shall we not see again thy ramparts rise, 

O Zion, and thy splendid towers rebuilt. 
And God's great Temple set for sacrifice 

By this our race, atoning for our guilt? 
Or must our weary footsteps no more tread 
The land we love, where those we loved are 
dead? 

No, we shall see that lovely land no more 
Nor anything we loved there, place or 
friend, 
Nor do, nor know, the things we hungered 
for. 



ESTHER 23 

Like darts out of God's Hand our deaths 
descend 
To make an end. 

Now we can crouch and pray and count the 
hours 
Until our murderers' feet are on the stair, 
And bright steel spirits the blood upon our 
hair 
And lays us motionless among the flowers, 
White things that do not care. 

And afterwards, who knows what moths we'll 
be 
Flying about the lamps of life at night 

In death's great darkness, blindly, blunder- 
ingly. 

Che brook that sings i' the grass knows more 
delight. 



24 ESTHER 

The ox that the men pole-axe has more 

peace 
Than prisoners' souls; but now there comes 
release — 
We shall go home, to death, to-morrow night. 

lamentation, misery, woe, woe! 
Curtain. 



iiiiiiri iiiniiiiWiiiiiiinMwmiiiiiiwiiii i 




ACT II. 

Ahasuerus. 

(x4hasuerus on his couch.) 
What is the time? I hear the water drip 
Telling the time ; and all the Court is stiU, 
Still as the midnight ; not a footstep stirs 
Save the slow sentr\^ on the palace wall. 
Xo glow of light is in the eastern heaven ; 
The barren, dwindled moon her niddy horn 
Heaves o'er the tree- tops; it is midnight, 

sure. 
I see Orion falhng. and the Dog 
Bright at his heels. Deep midnight. Xot a 

sound 

Save the most patient mouse that gnaws the 

wainscot. 

(He rises and walks.) 

weary Time, I cannot sleep to-night. 

25 



26 ESTHER 

All still, all sleep, save only I the King, 
And that great city at the palace foot 
Lies sleeping; yet a strange fear troubles me 
That some there do not sleep, but prepare 

evil — 
Evil against myself, against the King. 
Those foreigners whom Haman told me of, 
The Jews, who are to die, as Haman urged. 
Excellent Haman, guardian of my throne. 

It may be that his warning comes too late. 
What if those Jews be coming even now 
By the black alleys of that sleeping city 
Into my palace, up the guarded stairs 
From floor to floor, along the corridors, 
Stealthily, with masked eyes, with bated 

breath. 
On tiptoe to the threshold of my room. 

That captain of my guard has eyed me 
strangely 



ESTHER 27 

These two nights now; he had an evil look. 
He smiled, but still, his eyes: they did not 
smile. 

Where is my sword? It's here. Look at that 

door. 
It moved. Was that the wind? Who stands 

without? 

I see you standing there. Come in there, you. 

Who is it? 

Guard. 

(0#.) 

The great King's guard is here. 

God save the King! And may he live forever! 

Ahasuerus. 

{Going right hack,) 
Give me a cup of drink. I thirst. I thank 

you. 
You men were sleeping when I called for you. 
Sing, that I know you watching till I sleep. 



28 ESTHER 

{The Soldiers hum and sing together. Ahas- 
UERUS settles to his sleep again. Count 
20 slowly. Stop singing gradually. He 
rouses up and walks again.) 

There is a something evil in this room; 
I seem to give it power by lying down. 
It is as though the dark were full of souls 
That wait till I am helpless and then come 
Out of the corners, out of the air itself, 
About my body; but, being up, they fly. 

See, there is nothing here. I pass my hand — 
(He goes round Right and Back feeling the 

walls.) 
Here, here and here. I do not like that cor- 
ner: 
Is the thing there? The shadow on the wall 
Is like the black head of an African 
Thrown back in mockery, and it seems to 
move — 



ESTHER 29 

To move a little forward. It is but shadow. 

{At Left Back.) 

Yes, you are only shadow on the wall, 
Not what you thought. 

(He comes down stage.) 

And yet I know this room 
Is living with the spirits of evil things; 
Spirits of evil things that I have done. 
It is so difficult to be a King, 
To wear the crown and to be ringed with 

death ; 
To order 'Thus" with little time to think. 
No time to know, but to be just, far-seeing, 
Wise, generous, strict and yet most merciful. 
As though one knew. 

Now one by one they come, 
Those plotters who defied me, whom I killed, 
Crucified, burned, impaled, or tore with 
horses. 



30 ESTHER 

Men who with white lips cursed me, going to 
death. 

{He turns facing Left.) 
Yes, you pale ghosts, I mastered you in life. 
And will in death. I hold an Empire up, 
A thing that IS; no glimmering dream of 

boys 
Of what might be, but will not till men 

change; 
No phantom Paradise of vengeance glutted 
By poor men upon rich men, but a world 
Rising and doing its work and lying down 
Because my fierceness keeps the wolves at 

bay. 
And yet, those Jews, even at my palace door. 
So Haman said, have had my death con- 
trived. 
What if that captain be in league with them? 
Guard! Is Hydaspes there? 



ESTHER 31 

Guard. 
He is here, great King. Hydaspes, the King 
calls. 

(Hydaspes enters Left.) 

Hydaspes. 
Lord! Do you call? 

Ahasuerus. 
Come in. Let fall the hanging. Come you 

there, 
Into the moonlight, that I see your face. 

(Hydaspes comes down Left.) 
Let me be sure that no one crawls behind you. 
Hold out your hands, so; let me see the 

fingers. 
Stay there. No nearer. 

You have travelled far? 

Hydaspes. 
I have been far, among the Indian lands. 



Some. 



32 ESTHER 

Ahasuerus. 
And saw strange peoples? 

Hydaspes. 

Ahasuerus. 
Which were the strangest? 

Hydaspes. 
Those of Tibet, who made their pence of gold, 
And reckoned costly things by cups of water. 

Ahasuerus. 
Who next seemed strange to you? 

Hydaspes. 

The Tartar horsemen 
Who live on cheese of mare's milk, and go on 
For ever over never-ending grass, 
And have no home except the black felt tent 
And the great plain and the great sky and 
silence. 



ESTHER 33 

Ahasuerus. 
A good life, that, for men. Who, next to 

those? 

Hydaspes. 
The race of Sittras by the sacred river; 
They are all men, grown grey; no women 

there. 
They have put by their wives and families, 
Their crowns, their swords, their households 

and their cares. 
And seek for wisdom there, until they die. 

Ahasuerus. 
Do they find wisdom? 

Hydaspes. 

No, but they find peace. 

Ahasuerus. 
Do they, by Heaven ; as a dead man does. 
Wisdom is life upon the tickle edge. 
Not the blind staring of the stupefied 



34 ESTHER 

At nothing out of nothing. I envy you 
For travelling thus and seeing all these 

things, 
Which I shall only hear of. 

Tell me now, 
When you were wandering, did you meet the 
Jews? 

Hydaspes. 
No, never, Lord. 

Ahasuerus. 

Nor heard about their race? 

Hydaspes. 

Not in the East. 
Ahasuerus. 
But in the West you have? 

Hydaspes. 

Yes, here at home. 

Ahasuerus. 
What have you heard? 



ESTHER 35 

Hydaspes. 

That they are heathen men, 
Brought from beyond the desert in the wars; 
Not desert savages, nor civilised, 
But enemies of both. 

Ahasuerus. 

Who told you this? 

Hydaspes. 
Prince Haman told me. 

Ahasuerus. 

They are now condemned; 
They have been plotting here. You do not 

know 
Any of their rebellious stock, by chance? 

Hydaspes. 
No, Lord, not one. 

Ahasuerus. 
Go to that door, Hydaspes. 
Is someone listening to us, as we speak? 



36 ESTHER 

Hydaspes. 

{Going to door Left.) ^ 
No, Lord; the guard is at the door beyond. | 

Ahasuerus. 1 

Come nearer me. That captain of the guard, 
Is he a Jew? i 

Hydaspes. ! 

No, Lord, a Persian, surely, f 

Pordanatha, from lovely Arisai, i 

The city white like snow ; Persian as you. a 

Ahasuerus. ( 

Thank you, Hydaspes. |^: 

These times are dangerous. Go now from I 

here. 

See the guards doubled a^t Queen Esther's ; 

doors. .' [ 
These Jews are secret like that desert tribe ; 

Whom none has seen, who walk the moonless ^ j 
night 



1 



ESTHER 37 

And strike men dead, and go, and leave no 

trace 
Save the dead body. 

Hydaspes. 

I will place the guards 
Myself, great King. 

{Exit Hydaspes, Lejt,) 

Ahasuerus. 
Esther, the Queen, not yet a trusted Queen. 
Not lightly can an Emperor put his trust 
In man or woman. She is proud, and pride 
Is slow to give or take in confidence. 
How the Queen Vashti comes into my mind! 
She disobeyed my order at the feast. 
So she is put away, and lives in exile. 
How little quiet have I known since then ! 
Plot, plot and counter-plot, and none to com- 
fort, 
Nor to advise, as Vashti used to do. 



38 ESTHER 

Was it a plot that made her disobey? 

I sent Prince Memucan to bring her to me: 

He brought back word that she refused to 

come. 
How if Prince Memucan were lying to me? 
Misquoting what she said, to make me rage 
And put her from her place beside my 

throne? 
For since she went, Prince Memucan has 

been 
About me day and night, and grows in power. 
Who are the comrades of Prince Memucan? 
Meres, Adathan ; but his chiefest friend 
Is Haman, my most trusted councillor. 
Haman, my friend, to whom I love to give 
Princedoms and palaces and silver mines. 
And yet, what if the two conspired together 
To rid me of the Queen, that they might rule 

me? 
I will send Memucan beyond the seas 



ESTHER 39 

Upon some dangerous mission of great hon- 
our: 
He shall away to-morrow in all haste. 
But Haman I can trust. 

{He tries to compose himself to sleep.) 

Princedoms, and palaces, and silver mines. 

Pomps, glories, splendours, princedoms, 
palaces, — 

Vashti the Queen, and enemies, and prince- 
doms — 

A long, long life, and heavy hours of time! 

(He sleeps.) 

(A clink of metal to mark passage of time. 
Strike a bell or metal plate thrice. 
Count 20 slowly.) 

Ahasuerus. 

(Starting up.) 

It was not I, 
It was the slave Harbonah poisoned him, 



40 ESTHER 

Not I. I was not there. I never knew. 
Horrible white face with the blotch of death ; 
Harbonah gave it in the honey cake — 
The honey cake, I never gave it you. 
I was not at the feast, it is well known 
I was most sick that night. 

{He wakes.) 

Merach! Merach! begone! It was not 

Merach, 
But someone at the footing of the bed. 
Someone, a Jew, with bones instead of face 
And blood that dripped. 

(He gropes at foot of bed,) 
(He rises.) 
O blessed night, so full of peace, so calm, 
After that horror. 

Ah ! I know it now, 
What the Chaldean told me long ago, 
That I should know no quiet rest at night. 



ESTHER 41 

Being a King, unless I ate of bread 
Baked in a house where sorrow never came. 
blessed bread, would I could eat of thee! 

(Goes back.) 
Guards! are the gates secure? 

Guard. 

(Off.) 

God save the King! 

The King's gates are made sure, and the 
gates' keys 

Here, under guard. May the King live for 
ever! 

(Ahasuerus comes down Centre, then half- 
way back to Guard.) 

Ahasuerus. 
The sentries on the walls; do they report 
All quiet in the city? 

Guard. 

All, great King. 



42 ESTHER 

Ahasuerus. 
No armed men moving, no suspicious thing? 

Guard. 
Nothing, Son of Heaven, but silent dark- 
ness, 
And here and there a priest of the great sun 
Praying long life and blessing on our Mon- 
arch. 

Ahasuerus. 

{Coming down.) 
Long life, long misery! 

{Count 10 slowly.) 
It is within this room the horror is — 
That thing, that Jew, that thing out of the 
grave. 

No, nothing, nothing! I can see there's noth- 
ing. 
So — I will sleep. I will repeat that song 
Made long ago by one who could not sleep, 



ESTHER 43 

To help his fellow-sufferers. 

{Repeats.) 

Along the beach a wave comes slowly in, 

And breaks, and dies away, and dies away; 

The moon is dimmed and all the ropes 

are taut. 

Along the beach a wave comes slowly in, 

And breaks and dies away, and dies away. 

It is no season, sailor, to quit port. 

Along — etc. 

{He sleeps.) 

{Count 10 slowly. Enter Ghost of Thares, 

Right. The Ghost comes behind Ahas- 

UERUS and across stage to Left Centre. 

It stands still and hinnies like a snipe.) 

Ahasuerus. 

{In his sleep.) 
no! Spare me! Spare me! 
Loose me my hands. they have tied my 
feet! 



44 



ESTHER 



I cannot get from bed, and now they come. 
Merciful Gods! my thigh-bones are both 

broken. 
I cannot stir. Who is it gibbering there? 
The blood is on the bed-clothes wetting me. 
Who are you? Who? 

Thares. 
{In a disguised, piping voice,) 
The shadow of what I was. 
Come for your blood. 

Ahasuerus. 
I'll give you gold — my kingdom — 
But let me go ! 

Thares. 
{Creeping slowly across, hands out.) 
I cannot, Ahasuerus. 

I want your life, the soul out of your body. 
See, I come nearer and a little nearer, 
A little nearer still, and put out hands — 



ESTHER 45 

Lean, skinny hands, that used to serve your 

food, 
Thin hands to put your powerless hands 

aside 
And take you by the throat as now I do, 
And squeeze, and squeeze the life out of your 

flesh! 

{He begins to strangle Ahasuerus.) 

Ahasuerus. 

{With effort.) 
Ah, gods! He kills me! Kills me! 
Out, gods! 

Hydaspes! Help! 
Hydaspes! Guards! Hydaspes! 

{Exit Thares, L.) 

Hydaspes. 

Lord! 



46 ESTHER 

Ahasuerus. 
The villain strangled me. It was a dream. 
A dreadful dream ! And yet I knew his face. 
Who was the man? One who made plots 

against me, 
And died, from torture, as a due reward. 
Who was the man? 

Go, bring the records here, 
The wise Chaldeans and the record-writers. 
And let them read the records, for I know 
The man's name will be there. 

{Exit Hydaspes, Lejt.) 
It was his spirit. 
An evil thing, a harbinger of evil, 
A plotter coming as the vulture comes 
Before the corpse. But the Chaldean scribes 
Will know his name, and by their magicry 
Tell me what evil comes. 

Thares it was — 
Thares, the man was, who was put to death 



ESTHER 47 

For plotting with the other, Bigdana. 

{Goes hack.) 
Let pass the wise Chaldeans when they come. 

The Guard. 

(0#.) 

God save the King! May the King live for 
ever! 

Curtain. 



ACT III. 

Scene: — The Throne Room of Ahasuerus. 
Throne Settle. 

(Hydaspes discovered. Ham an enters Left.) 

Haman. 

Why do you bring me to this fearful place 
Even before the dawn? 

Hydaspes. 

You trust to me: 
Anywhere else we might be overheard. 

Haman. 
What is the secret that you wish to tell me? 

Hydaspes. 
Lord, I know well that I have sworn to you 
To tell you all the secrets of the palace. 
The King is overwhelmed in utter gloom. 

48 



ESTHER 49 

During this night a ghastly dream has scared 
him; 

In the calm silence of the night he shrieked ; 

I hurried in ; I found him babbling wildly, 

Talking of peril threatening him with death, 

Of enemies, of evil, and of Esther. 

And in these horrors did he pass the night; 

Then, weary from the sleep which fled from 
him, 

He tried to clear his spirit of the horror 

And bade men bring him in the written rec- 
ords. 

Telling of all his glory, and his reign. 

There in his bed he rests while these are read. 

Haman. 

What portion of his reign is being read? 

Hydaspes. 
All of his glorious time since he was King. 



50 ESTHER 

Haman. 

Has he forgotten now his ghastly dream? 

Hydaspes. 
He has assembled all his great magicians 
Who read the will of Heaven in darksome 

dreams. 
But you yourself seem troubled as by dreams; 
You seem dismayed; have you some secret 
trouble? 

(Ham AN turns.) 

Haman. 

Can you ask that, and see my situation? 
Hated, feared, envied by the men I crush. 

(Folds arms.) 

Hydaspes. 
Ah, upon whom has Heaven smiled more 

gently? 
You see the whole world prostrate at your 

feet. 



ESTHER 51 

Hamak. 

The whole world? Every day a filthy slave, 
With brazen brow, disdains and injures me. 

Hydaspes. 
Who is this enemy of State and King? 

Haman. 

You know, perhaps, the name of Mordecai? 

Hydaspes. 
Chief of an impious and rebellious race? 

Haman. 

Yes, he. 

Hydaspes. 

Lord, can so weak a foeman trouble you? 

Haman. 

The insolent scoundrel never bows to me. 
When all the Persians bow with holy awe 
And dare not raise their foreheads from the 

earth, 
He, proudly seated, with unbended head, 



62 ESTHER 

Treats all my honour as impiety 

And looks at me with a seditious brow ; 

And day and night he haunts the palace door. 

Always, when I go out or enter in, 

His hateful face afflicts me and pursues me, 

And all night long my troubled spirit sees 

him. 

{Right down stage,) 

This morning I, though up before the dawn, 

Found him before me, smeared with filthy 

dust, 
Dressed all in rags, all pale; but still his eye 
Kept underneath the ashes the same pride. 
Dear friend, how does he dare this brazen 

boldness? 
You, who see all that passes in the palace, 
Do you believe that friends encourage him? 
What backing has he? 

Hydaspes. 
My Lord, you know that it was he discovered ' i 



ESTHER 63 

That bloody plot of Thares to the King. 
The King then promised to reward him well, 
Though since that time he has forgotten it. 

Haman. 
I as a young child came among the Persians; 
I govern now where I was made a slave; 
My wealth is equal to the wealth of kings, 
Only my forehead wants the royal crown. 
(Crosses to Right in front of Hydaspes.) 
Yet all my honour is but little to me 
While Mordecai at the palace entrance 
Tortures my spirit with a thousand daggers. 
And all my grandeur seems to me as none 
While that vile slave is lighted by the sun. 

Hydaspes. 

(Moves down to Left,) 
You will be rid of him in ten hours' time; 
The whole Jew race is promised to the 
vultures. 



54 ESTHER 

Haman. 

Ah ! ^tis a long, long time to my impatience. 

{Sits on throne.) 

Listen, 111 tell the story of my vengeance. 

It was through him, who would not bow to 
me. 

That I have caused this sentence that de- 
stroys them — 

Vengeance too little for a man so foul. 

For when one dares affront a man like 
Haman, 

The following vengeance cannot be too great. 

One must have vengeance 

Such as will make the universe to tremble. 

So that the whole Jew race be drowned in 
blood. 

I wish that some day in the startled cen- 
turies 

A man shall say: "Yes, once there were the 
Jews, 



ESTHER 65 

An insolent race that covered all the world ; 
But one of them dares stir the wrath of 

Haman : 
Immediately they disappeared from earth." 

Hydaspes. 
Lord, is it your Amalekitish blood 
That secretly excites you to destroy them? 

Haman. 

I know the bloody feud there was of old 
Between the Jews and the Amalekites; 
But I am so attached, to worldly greatness, 
I do not feel this racial prejudice. 
Mordecai is guilty, that suffices; 
And so I stirred Ahasuerus' mind; 

{Change of voice to venom.) 
I told him lies, invented calumnies, 
Touched him with fear, and left him terrified; 
Told him the Jews were arming, 
Rich, seditious, 



56 ESTHER 

Their very God hateful to other gods. 
I told the King "These strangers only hope 
To wreck the peace in which we find our- 
selves. 
Strike them/' I said, "before they strike at 

you 
And fill your treasure-houses with their 

booty." 
I told him, he believed me, and at once 
The King gave me the seal of Royal Power. 
"Save me," he said, "protect our royal peace, 
Ruin those scoundrels and their wealth is 

yours." 
All of the Jewish race was thus condemned, 
I and the King arranged the day of slaughter. 
But to await ten hours that traitor's death 
Is too much anguish to my aching heart. 
Something, I know not what, poisons my joy: 
Why must I see that scoundrel ten hours 
more? 



ESTHER 57 

Hydaspes. 
Can you not have him killed with but one 

word? 
Lord, ask the King to give him up to you. 

Haman. 
That's why I am here, seeking a fitting mo- 
ment. 
You know as well as I this pitiless Prince, 
How terrible his sudden rage can be; 
Often he breaks the network of our plans. 

(Pause.) 
My fear too subtly works to torture me; 
The Jew to him must be too vile a soul. 

Hydaspes. 
why delay? Go, build the gallows for him. 

Haman. 

There's noise — I go. If the King calls for 
me — 



58 ESTHER 

Hydaspes. 
Enough. 

{They go off Left to wings.) 

{Enter Ahasuerus and Asaph.) 

Ahasuerus. 
So then, without this faithful information, 
Two traitors would have killed their King in 

bed. 
Let people leave me; 

{Exit of Hydaspes and Ham an.) 

Asaph, stay with me. 

(Asaph behind King. King sits on throne.) 

I must confess I had forgotten them. 
Almost forgotten their most bloody crime; 
And now this reading brings it back to me, 
I see again the end their crime achieved 
And how by torments they were put to death. 
Now, of that faithful subject, whose quick 

eye 
Unravelled all the thread of their black plot 



ESTHER 59 

Through whom, in fact, Persia and I were 

saved, 

What honour, what rewards were given to 

him? 

Asaph. 

They promised much, and that is all I know. 

Ahasuerus. 
Wicked forgetfulness of such great service. 
Certain effect of my too busy life. 
A Prince is ever weighed with busy cares. 
Dragged on unendingly from thing to thing; 
The future troubles him, the present strikes 

him, 
But swifter than the light the past escapes 

him. 
Ah, rather let the crime escape by vengeance 
Than such rare service lose its right reward. 
That man who showed such noble zeal for 

me — 
Is he alive? 



60 ESTHER 

Asaph. 
He sees the star that lights you. 

Ahasuerus. 

Why has he not demanded his reward? 

What distant country hides him from my 

love? 

Asaph. 

Lord, uncomplaining of yourself and fate, 

He drags his life out at your palace doors. 

Ahasuerus. 
What is his name? 

Asaph. 

His name is Mordecai. 

Ahasuerus. 
What is his country? 

Asaph. 
Lord, since I have to tell you. 
He is a captive Jew, condemned to death. 



ESTHER 61 

Ahasuerus. 
He is a Jew? Heaven, when my life 
Was threatened to be taken by my subjects, 
A Jew protects me from my subjects' swords; 
A Jew has saved me from the Persians' ven- 
geance ! 
But since he saved me, be he what he may — 
Here! someone! (Calls.) 

(Enter Hydaspes, Left.) 

Hydaspes. 
Lord? 

Ahasuerus. 

Look by that door, 
See if some noble of my Court is there. 

Hydaspes. 
Haman is at your door, since before dawn. 

Ahasuerus. 
Let him come in, he may enlighten me. 

(Hydaspes bows and exit.) 



62 ESTHER 

(Enter Haman, Left.) 
Hail, happy standfast of thy master's throne, 
Soul of my counsel, who so many times 
Has lightened in my hand my heavy sceptre. 
A dark reproach embarrasses my soul. 
I know how pure a zeal inflames your heart, 
I know no lying ever stains your lips, 
I know my interest only is your thought, 
So tell me, 

What ought a very mighty prince to do 
To honour any subject whom he loves? 
By what great glory worthy of a King 
Can I reward a man of faith and merit? 
Put not a limit on my condescension. 
Think of my power ere you answer me. 

Haman. 

(Aside.) 

Haman, it is for you yourself you speak ; 
(Comes down stage and speaks to audience.) 
What other subject could he wish to honour? 



ESTHER 63 

Ahasuerus. 
What do you think? 

Haman. 

King, I think of all the Persian Kings, 

Remembering what they did on such oc- 
casions 

But bring them back in vain into my mind. 

{He begins to move hack, so that five lines 
from this he is slightly behind Ahasue- 
rus.) 

How should their deeds make precedents for 
you? 

For what are they when put beside yourself? 

Your reign will serve as model to all time. 

You wish then to reward some faithful sub- 
ject? 

Honour alone rewards a noble mind. 

(Haman gets behind to Left of Ahasuerus.) 

Lord, I should wish that he, that happy 
mortal, 



64 ESTHER 

Should, like yourself, be decked to-day in 

purple, 
And wear a sacred crown upon his brow. 
And go through Shushan with the world to see. 
Riding upon your war-horse gloriously. 
And as a crown to this magnificence, 

{During these lines he comes forward down 
stage, and, though speaking to Ahasue- 
Rus, is carried away by his own elo- 
quence,) 
Let some great Lord, magnificent in power. 
The next man in the Empire to yourself. 
Lead the proud war-horse by the bridle rein ; 
And let the proud Lord in his courtly dress. 
Cry with a high voice in the public places: 
"Mortals, prostrate yourselves, 'tis thus the 

King 
Crowns faith and honours merit." 

{Pause.) 



; 

ESTHER 65 

Ahasuerus. 
I see that wisdom's self inspires you, 
In every point your judgment backs my will. 
Go, lose no time; what you have said to me 
I wish in every point to be made good. 
Virtue no longer shall be hidden here. 
Go then, Haman, to the palace gates. 

(Pause, Haman shows joy,) 
There you will find the poor Jew Mordecai — 
(Pause. Haman shows more joy,) 
He is the man whom I desire to honour. 
Order his triumph, march before him, you; 
Let your voice ring through Shushan with his 

name. 
Let every knee bend whereso'er he comes. 
Now leave me, all. 

Haman. 

(Aside,) 

Gods! 

(Exit Haman.) 



66 ESTHER 

Ahasuerus. 
Never has subject gloried in such honour, 
But yet I show how deeply I can fear 
To be ungrateful; 

And the world will see 
The innocent distinguished from the guilty. 
Yet all the same, that loathsome race of 

Jews — 
(Esther, Rachel and Chorus enter Left, 

crouching.) 
What insolent mortal comes to look for death, 
Entering without my orders? 
Guards! Guards! What, Esther, you? 
You here and unexpected! 

Esther. 

(Swooning.) 

children, hold your Queen! 

(Rachel on Esther's left, and 1st and 2nd 

Chorus support her.) 

Idle! 



ESTHER 67 

Ahasuerus. 
No, Esther, what do you fear? 

No ; do not think 
I made this bitter order against you. 
Live, for you see I stretch my golden sceptre 
Towards you, as a witness of my pardon. 

Esther. 

What friendly voice commands that I should 

live? 

Ahasuerus. 

Do you not recognize your husband's voice? 

Esther. 
Lord, I have never witnessed save with fear 
The majesty upon your kingly brow; 
Judge then the terror in my troubled soul 
To see that brow in anger against me. 
What daring heart could see without a 

shudder. 
Or bear the light that glitters from your eyes 
Like the bright anger of the Living God! 



68 ESTHER 

Ahasuerus. 

sun! fires of immortal light! 

1 too am troubled and can hardly bear 
To see, as now, her terror and dismay. 

O Queen, put by the terror that o'erwhelms 
you, 

You are the mistress of my kingly heart. 

Come, test my friendship for you. What you 
wiU— 

What will you have? The half of my pos- 
sessions? 

Esther. 
And can a King, obeyed by the whole world, 

{Kneeling.) 
Before whom all must bow and kiss the dust, 
Look with such kindness on his meanest 
slave? 

Ahasuerus. 
This sceptre, and this Empire, and this terror, 



ESTHER 69 

And these profound respects, and all this 

pomp, 
Bring little sweetness to me and fatigue me, 
Believe me, Esther. But I find in you 
A grace that charms me and that never tires, 
Nothing but innocence, and peace, and 

beauty, 
That drives the darkness of my troubles from 

me 
And makes less fearful all the rage of foes. 
Therefore, without this terror, answer me: 
Tell me what thrilling business brings you 

here, 
What care, what trouble, makes you shudder 

thus? 
Speak; you have but to ask, to have your will. 
If aught you wish is in a mortal's giving. 

Esther. 
goodness of my King! 
Indeed a thrilling business brings me here. 



70 ESTHER 

Here I await my happiness or death ; 

All, mighty King, depends upon your will ; 

One word from you may end my agony 

And make me happiest of the queens on 

earth. 

Ahasuerus. 

Speak! You inflame my wish to hear your 

trouble. 

Esther. 

Lord, if I found a favour in your eyes, 

{On her knees.) 
If ever you consented to my prayers. 
Grant before all that I this day receive you, 
My lord and sovereign, at a solemn feast. 
And grant that Haman be invited thither; 
For before him I'll dare to break my silence 
And also tell why I demand his presence. 

(Chorus stand.) 

Ahasuerus. 
Esther, you trouble me; yet, be it so. 

Let all be done as you desire it. 



ESTHER 71 

{Order to Guard.) 
You! — Seek for Haman; let him understand 
He is invited by the Queen to feast. 

{Exit Guard, Lejt,) 
{Enter Hydaspes, Right. Comes down be- 
low King.) 

Hydaspes. 
The wise Chaldeans are assembled here, 
According to your order. 

Ahasuerus. 
Princess, a strange dream occupies my 

thought; 
The answer of the wise men affects you. 
Come! you shall hear them from behind a 

curtain, 
And afterwards shall give me your advice. 
I fear some treacherous enemy plots against 

us. 
Follow me, Esther. 



72 ESTHER 

Esther. 

You, my gentle friends, 
Wait here till I return. 

(Ahasuerus and Esther go off, Right.) 
(Rachel crosses Right, then turns and 
speaks. As she speaks the Chorus come 
down the stage.) 

Rachel. 
What do you think, my sisters, of our for- 
tunes? 
Which do you think will triumph, 
Esther or Haman? 
Will God's will, or will man's will triumph 

here? 

Chorus. 

We cannot tell. We know that God's great 

Hand 

Is heavy on the race of Jews this day. 

Chorus. 
It is because of sin, because of blood, 

Blood of just men, shed in iniquity, 



ESTHER 73 

That we, the lost, are trampled to the mud 
And are condemned to die in slavery. 

Soon, when the evening comes, our foes will 
seek 
All of our race. Their bloody swords will 
slay 
Men, women, children, all, the strong and 
weak, 
And heap our mangled bodies by the way, 
To know no burial. 

(Kneel here.) 

Lord, if we search our ways and turn again, 
Surely Thou wilt forgive, and Thou wilt 
send 
Help, like an army, mercy like the rain. 
And save us from destruction at the 
end. 
Save us, save us! 



I 

74 ESTHER 

The doom is cast, our murderers draw the 

sword, 
None can avert our death but Thou, Lord! 

Without, our murderers hasten even now. 
We are as dead, and none can save but Thou. 

Curtain. 



ACT IV. 

In Front of Curtain, on a platform or avant- 
scene, (Haman, Zeresh.) 

Zeresh. 
Here, by the still shut gate of Esther's hall, 
Hark to your wife; by all that you hold 

sacred, 
My Lord, hide your blind rage against the 

Jews, 
Make bright that forehead shadowed now 

with sadness: 
Kings fear reproach, and sadness 
You, chosen by the Queen, the one guest 

asked, 
Show that you feel that proud felicity, 
Show that you feel it, even through any evil. 
I have a hundred times been told by you 

75 



76 ESTHER 

That he who cannot stomach an affront 
Nor hide his proper feelings with false 

colours, 
Should fly from Courts and Kings. 
All men have disappointments: often, too, 
An outrage bravely borne, endured with pru- 
dence. 
Has led a man even to the highest honours. 

Haman. 

Misery! misery, frightful to my thought! 
O shame that never can be wiped away! 
A loathsome Jew, the foulest of his kind. 
Has now been clad in purple by these hands. 
It's not enough that he should conquer me. 
That I have served as herald to his glory. 
While he, the traitor, mocked at my con- 
fusion; 
And all the people mocking after him, 
Seeing the blushes covering my face. 



ESTHER 77 

Mocked me and muttered of my certain fall. 
cruel King! And this has been your pleas- 
ure! 
You only gave me honours in the past 
To make me feel your tyranny the better 
And drive me deeper still in ignominy. 

Zeresh. 
Why judge so harshly of the King's inten- 
tion? 
He thinks that he rewards a generous deed. 
Ought one not rather to be much astonished 
That he so long has left it unrewarded? 
He has done nothing but by your advice, 
And you yourself dictated all the ceremony. 
In all the Empire you are next to him; 
Say, does he know how much you loathe the 

Jew? 

Haman. 

The King knows well how much he owes to 
me; 



78 ESTHER 

The King knows well how I, to make him 

great, 
Have stamped remorse, fear, shame, beneath 

my feet, 
And used his power with a heart of brass. 
Silenced the laws, made innocent people sob. 
Only for him contemned the Persians^ hatred. 
Cherished and sought the curses of the peo- 
ple. 
And for reward, the barbarous King to-day 
Exposed me to their mocking and their 
hatred. 

Zeresh. 
My Lord, let me speak plain. That zeal you 

show, 
That zeal of bending all things to his power. 
Had it a purer object than yourself? 
Take without going further this one case : 
Of all the ruined Jews made desolate, 
Surely you ruined them to please yourself! 



ESTHER 79 

Can you not rightly fear that even now 
The people loathe us, and the Court detests 

us? 

(Ham AN turns away.) 
Lord, I must speak. My Lord, this Jew — 

this Jew 
Heaped now with honours, frightens me. 
Misfortunes often follow on each other. 
The Jewish race always brought death to 

yours. 
Take now this moming^s trouble as an omen : 
Perhaps your fortune is about to leave you ; 
Fortune is fickle. Act before she leaves you. 

{She touches him.) 
My lord, what more ambition can you have? 
I shudder when I see the way you take. 
{He turns slightly to her. He is below her.) 
The deep abysses opening before me. 
Nought but a horrible fall before our feet. 
Lord, let us fly, 



80 ESTHER 

(Here she holds him by the shoulder.) 
And seek some calmer fate, 

Fly to the Hellespont and those far shores 

Where in old time your wandering fathers 
were. 

Let us away, away from fortune's malice! 

Send on our richest treasures ere we start; 

Leave me to manage; I will take the chil- 
dren, — 

Have no more care except to hide yourself, 

For the most terrible and stormy sea 

Is safer to us than this treacherous Court. 

But someone hurriedly is coming here! 

(Enter Hydaspes from below, in front, Left) 

Hydaspes. 
My Lord, I came to seek you: 
Your absence takes away the general joy, 
Ahasuerus bids me bring you to him. 

Haman. 
Is Mordecai also at this feast? 



ESTHER 81 

Hydaspes. 
Why do you let this image of the Jew 
Torment you even as a royal guest? 
Let the Jew glory in his petty triumph, 
Can he avoid the fury of the King? 
You rule Ahasuerus heart and soul ; 
The Jew has been rewarded, but next time 
Will be beheaded. 

We have but garlanded your victim for you. 
And I suspect that you, when backed by 

Esther, 
Will come to even greater honours here. 

Haman. 

could I but believe your joyful news! 

Hydaspes. 

1 heard the answers of the wise Chaldeans. 
They say a treacherous stranger plots and 

plans 
To kiU the Queen. 



82 ESTHER 

The King, who does not know this guilty 

traitor, 
Thinks that the plan is plotted by the Jews. 

Haman. 
Dear friend, the Jews are truly but wild 

beasts; 
One must above all fear their daring Chief. 
Earth has too long endured the horror of 

them. 
Nature cannot be too soon rid of them. 
So now I breathe again. 

Good-bye, dear Zeresh! 

Hydaspes. 
Enter, receive the honour ready for you. 
{Curtain rises and discovers Ahasuerus, 
Esther. Haman entering.) 

Ahasuerus. 

(To Esther at his right.) 
Ah ! Your last speeches have a secret grace; 



ESTHER 83 

All that you do displays a noble mind 
Beyond all price, beyond all gold or purple. 
What virtuous country bore so rare a treas- 
ure? 
What wisdom reared you in your infancy? 
But tell me what it is you want from me, 
For all your wishes, Esther, shall be granted, 
Even to the half of this my powerful Empire. 
This that I promised once, I now repeat. 

Esther. 
No such great wishes, Lord : but this I long 

for. 
Since even my King himself has bid me 

speak. 

(She flings herself at his feet.) 
I dare beseech you both for my own life 
And the salvation of a wretched people 
That you have now condemned to die with 

me. 



84 ESTHER 

Ahasuerus. 

(Raising her.) 
To die? And you? 

What people? What is this? 

Haman. 

(Aside.) 

I tremble! 

Esther. 

Esther, my Lord, her father was a Jew. 

You know the harshness of your cruel orders. 

Haman. 

(Aside.) 
Ah, gods! 

Ahasuerus. 
Ah ! what a blow ! you pierce me to the heart. 
You, daughter of a Jew? 

You whom I love! 
Goodness and innocence their very selves! 
Esther, whom I believed did come from 
Heaven, 



ESTHER 85 

Is after all born from this impure stock ! 
Unhappy King! 

Esther. 

You can reject my prayer, 
But I demand at least for a last grace 
That you should hear me speak, Lord, to the 

end, 
And above all, let Haman check me not. 

Ahasuerus. 

Speak! 

Esther. 

God, confound daring and knavery ! 

These Jews of whom you mean to rid the 

world. 
Whom you believe the outcasts of mankind, 
Were sovereigns in a happy land of old 
While they were faithful to their fathers^ 

God: 
God, only Master of the earth and skies, 
The Eternal One, the Maker of the world, 



86 ESTHER 

Who hears the sighing of the tortured poor. 
There came a day the Jews neglected Him, 
They dared raise altars unto other gods, 
And in a day kings, peoples, all were scat- 
tered, 
And their Assyrian captivity 
Became the just reward of their unfaith. 
The time went by, and after many years 
The captive Jews enjoyed a happier lot. 
You became King, you, friend of innocence, 
Whose mercy all declared with cries of joy. 
But cruel minds surround the gentlest princes 
And poison even the gentlest mind with lies; 
And here a ruffian from the depths of Thrace 
Comes to encourage cruelty in you ; 
A statesman, hating you and all your glory. 

Haman. 

Your glory? I? Can you believe it. Heaven? 
I, with no other aim, no other god! 



ESTHER 87 

Ahasuerus. 

Silence! 

Do you dare speak before the King com- 
mands? 

Esther. 
You see our cruel enemy before you ; 
'Tis he, this faithless and barbarian states- 
man, 
Who with malignant zeal blinding your eyes. 
Has armed your strength against our inno- 
cence. 
Who but a pitiless Scythian would have dared 
Dictate an order of such frightful horror 
And give a signal through the startled world 
To fill the globe with murders? 

Who but he? 
Under your name, most just of Emperors, 
This faithless stranger desolates your coun- 
try; 
Even in this palace will his bloody rage 



88 ESTHER 

Spill your good subjects' blood. 

What have the Jews done to provoke his 

hate? 
What civil quarrel have we helped to spread? 
When have the Jews marched with your 

enemies? 
Were ever slaves more passive to the yoke, 
Worshipping in their chains the God W^ho 

gives them. 
Lord, while your hand lay heaviest upon 

them, 
They prayed their God to be a guard to you, 
To break the plots the wicked made against 

you 
And take your throne in the shadow of His 

wings. 
And doubt not. Lord, God was your help and 

stay. 
Beat down the Parthians and the Indians for 

you. 



I 



ESTHER 89 

Scattered before you all the Scythian hordes 
And to the eyes of one poor Jew discovered 
The plans of men who plotted to destroy 

you. 
I am that same poor Jew's adopted daughter. 



Ahasuerus. 
Mordecai? 



Esther. 
He was the sole survivor of our household. 
My father was his brother. He, like me, 
Is in direct descent from our first King. 
Full of just horror for an Amalekite, 
A race accursed by the lips of God, 
He would not bow the knee to Haman here, 
Nor give him honours only due to you. 
From this, my Lord, hidden under other 

names. 
Proceeds his hatred against all the Jews. 
In vain you gave rewards to Mordecai, 



90 ESTHER 

Already at the very door of Haman 
Behold the gallows Hainan has prepared ! 
Within this hour, that reverend old man, 
Dragged from your palace precincts by his 

order, 
Dressed in your kingly purple, will be hanged. 

Ahasuerus. 
What light, what horror burst upon my soul! 

(Rising.) 
My blood is all aflame with shame and rage. 
I was his plaything, then! Heaven lighten 

me! 
One moment — let me think. 
Call Mordecai. I will hear his statement. 

(Exit Ahasuerus.) 

Haman. 

(To Esther.) 

Queen, I am stricken with amazement here. 
I am deceived; nay, I have been betrayed 



ESTHER 91 

By those that hate the Jews, heaven be my 

witness. 
By slaying them I thought to save yourself, 
Use all my credit. Queen, on their behalf. 
You see the King is staggered by the news. 
I know how one can press or check the King; 
I make him calm or raging as I please. 
The interests of the Jews are sacred to me. 
Speak, Queen, I swear and your dead enemies 
Shall make amends if I have injured you. 
Whom would you have destroyed? 

Esther. 

Go, traitor! leave me. 
Jews expect nothing from a wretch like you. 
miserable man ! Avenging God, 
Ready to judge you, holds His balance up. 
Soon shall just sentence be pronounced on 

you. 
Tremble! God's reign approaches, thine is 
over. 



92 ESTHER 

Haman. 

Yes, I confess thy God a fearful God ; 
But will He cherish pitiless hate against me? 
Ah ! it is done, my pride is forced to bend, 
Pitiless Haman is reduced to prayer! 
(Flings himself at Esther's feet. Esther 

moves to the centre.) 
By the salvation of the Jews, Queen, 
And by these queenly feet that I embrace, 
And by that wise old man, your kingdom's 

honour, 
Deign to appease the rage of this fierce King; 
Save Haman, trembling at your sacred knees! 

(Enter Ahasuerus.) 

Ahasuerus. 
This traitor dares to put his hands upon you ! 

(Haman up.) 
I read his treachery in his guilty eyes, 
His guilty looks confirm what you have said 



ESTHER 93 

And show me all the course of his attempt. 
Tear the dog's spirit out this very instant 
Before his door, instead of Mordecai, 
And let his death appease the earth and skies. 
Then let his body be a public show. 

(Haman led away by Guakds.) 

(Enter Mordecai in front.) 

Man loved of Heaven, my safety and my joy, 

Thy King is no more governed by the 

wicked ; 
My eyes have seen the truth. Crime is con- 
founded. 
Come, shine beside me, 
(Mordecai is led to the Queen's seat, right 
of Ahasuerus.) 

Ranked as is your due, 
Prince of my realm and chiefest Counsellor. 
I have been blind ; but now, no longer blind, 
I put my trust in one whom age makes wise, 
And wisdom merciful, and mercy blessed. 



94 ESTHER 

By God's great sun your lightest word this 

day 
Shall be a law to Persia for all time. 

MORDECAI. 

King, whom Heaven ever keep in care, 
The peril presses on the Jews. 

Lord, save them! 
Ahasuerus. 
They shall be saved. Come, take these orders 

out; 
Revoke the cruel edict of that man. 

{A Guard takes orders,) 

Chorus. 
Bountiful mercy of our guardian God, 
star in darkness, white light of dawn. 
After the night; blessed touch of rain, 
Changing the desert's salty sand to flowers; 
O well of water in the blinding heat. 
When even the asp goes mad ; shining city 



ESTHER 95 

Seen by the footsore after hours of travel; 
land, that far away, beyond wild water, 
Gleams out at evening; port of peace 
After the sea; we thank Thee for this mercy. 

1st Chorus. 
Once, when of old the King of Egypt fol- 
lowed, 
With hosts of horse, our fathers as they fled, 
God made the sea a road for us to tread, 
Made the rock give us drink, the desert 

bread, 
But smote our foes. His sea rose, they were 
swallowed. 

2nd Chorus. 
And as our fathers wandered then 
God guided them to their desire 
By a bright angel in the hearts of men. 
And in the day by cloud and in the night 
by fire. 



96 ESTHER 

Until they reached the green land full of 

springs. 
The comland that men reap but need not 
plough, 
The happy hill; 
All the way there God hid them in His wings, 
Even as He hides us now, and ever will. 
And ever will! 

1st Chorus. 
Though men deal proudly, God is over them. 

{A crying without.) 

Ahasuerus. 
What is the noise of tumult in the street? 

Chorus. 
Sounds as of slaying and of lamentation. 

Esther. 
King, I dread that crying in the city! 
It must be that your orders come too late 



ESTHER 97 

To save our fellow-captives. Swords are 

flashing, 
And there are screams of women, and men 

falling. 
Hark, King, they kill the Jews! 

Chorus. 

Heaven, save them! 
Save us, Heaven! 

Ahasuerus. 

By the fires of Bel 
I am too late! 

{Enter Asaph, Lejt.) 
What is it, Asaph? Speak! 

Asaph. 
King, my spirit faints, I cannot speak. 

Ahasuerus. 
Is murder being done without there? 



98 ESTHER 

Asaph. 

Yes. 

Or no, not murder, but a red accounting, 

A settling for old sin. Unseen by us. 

Unseen in the air about us, our bad deeds 

Grow into devils, who in our happy time, 

When it is sunshine with us, startle out 

And take us by the throat and shatter us. 

Ahasuerus. 

Are you so taken by the throat? You shudder 

Like one with the fever, and your lips are 

white. 

Asaph. 

King, I shudder at the risk you ran. 

Ahasuerus. 
The Queen ran risk, not I. 

Asaph. 

No. Hark, my Lord. 
When you did bid us take that traitor hence, 



ESTHER 99 

We dragged him out, and down the corridor 
Past the bronze doorways of Prince Memu- 

can. 
There, with full voice, he shouted : "Memu- 

can. 
Meres, Adathan, help me! Call our friends! 
All is discovered! Save me! Kill the King! 
Rush in and kill him ! Save me ! Memucan, 
You swore to kill him. I am to be killed. 
Memucan's men, come, save me! Kill these 

dogs. 
And kill the King! You shall have all my 

wealth, 
My silver mines, my palaces, all, all, 
And be my princes.'^ 

But he called in vain. 
Prince Memucan was gone, with all his men, 
Gone over sea this morning at your bidding. 
He called to empty courts where doves picked 

food 



100 ESTHER 

And the pale fountain trembled like an 

aspen. 
Then, seeing that none answered, he was 

stilled. 
A shuddering took him, and he called for 

drink, 
And prayed that he might be brought back 

to you. 
To tell you all the plot of Memucan, 
That you might spare his life. 
I, having my orders, told him he must die. 
By this time we had reached his palace gate 
And stood beneath the gallows he had built. 
There, where he planned to murder Mordecai, 
Men put a rope about his own doomed neck. 
Then he besought a.grace, he asked the time. 
We told him, "Almost the fifth hour;" and he 
Smiled haggardly and said, "Astrologers 
Foretold that on this day at the fifth hour 
A great event would alter life for me. 



ESTHER 101 

Wait till the hour, one little minute's peace, 
While I pray God." 

We waited, while he prayed. 
And the square filled with silent men and 

women, 
His victims, now avenged. 
They were as silent as a forest is 
In the great heat before a thunderstorm, 
Before the first few drops strike the parched 

leaves. 
But one mad woman, who had lost her son, 
Babbled, "He will escape, for all their 

power!'' 
It wanted but a minute of the hour 
Of Fifth Hour Sacrifice. The ankle bells 
Tinkled as women passed; the old priests 

shuffled, 
Lighting the incense in the temple braziers, 
And acolytes in red came to the gates. 
King, I shudder at that ruffian's guile. 



102 ESTHER 

Even as the trumpet of the hour sounded, 

There came the clink of arms, and swords- 
men came 

(A band of swordsmen. Prince Adathan's 
men) 

Up from the water gateway to the square. 

Then Haman shouted, ^'Help, Adathan's 
men! 

Adathan, help! See! I am Haman here. 

Charge! Set upon these guards and set me 
free." 

Then with a cheer those swordsmen charged 
the gallows 

And bore us back, and snatched him from our 
hands. 

But at that word of setting Haman free 

Those silent watchers there, the multi- 
tude. 

His victims from of old, the men ground 
down. 



ESTHER 103 

The women bartered and the children 

stunted, 
Screamed all together in a venomous hate, 
And seizing stones and sticks, or with bare 

hands. 
They set upon those swordsmen of Adathan's 
And routed them ; so we recovered Haman. 

And Haman bit his lips 
And said : ^Those were the swordsmen I had 

hired 
To kill the Jews indeed, but afterward 
To kill the King and crown me King instead. 
I should have been a King at this Fifth 

Hour. 
Only have mercy, I will tell you all." 
Lord, I have looked on fire and on flood, 
Both are less terrible than the mob in rage. 
When he cried "Mercy," all that sea of men 
Roared like a battle, rose like a toppling tide, 
Swept over him and choked him out of life. 



104 ESTHER 

The Jews are saved: Hainan is dead. The 
crowd 

Tore him piecemeal. Now, by the rope that 
choked him, 

They drag his corpse to be a public show. 

This is the seal of office that he held. 

{Gives signet.) 
Ahasuerus. 

Prince Mordecai, take this seal of office. 

I give you Haman's property and power; 

Possess in justice his ill-gotten wealth. 

I break the fatal slavery of the Jews. 

All who elect to stay in Persia here 

Are henceforth equal with my Persian sub- 
jects; 

All who would fain go home, are free to go. 

And, so that men may tremble at the Name 

Of Esther's God, I will rebuild His Temple, 

Using sweet cedar where the Jews put oak, 

Marble instead of stone, and gold for brass. 



ESTHER 105 

And may the Jews in all their solemn feasts 
Keep this day's triumph holy, and my name 
Forever living in their memory. 

Esther. 
God, by roads unknown to mortal men 
Thy wisdom brings eternal plans to be! 

Chorus. 
Even but now our enemies beset our feet to 

ruin us; 
But in the darkness of our doom there rose a 

star to lighten us! 

The proud man planned to shed our blood; 

his voice went ringing to the sky ; 
His sin has turned upon himself; his bloody 

thoughts have made him die. 

Now like a cedar that the storm uproots on 

windy Lebanon, 
He lies on earth : I passed his haunt, but God 

had blown and he was gone. 



106 ESTHER 

{Here the King and Esther move off Right.) 
(The Chorus come slowly down stage speak- 
ing, and pass off in front.) 

Esther has saved us: we are raised out of the 

dust: we are set free; 
We may go home to Zion's hill, forgetting all 

our slavery. 

We may rebuild the sacred town and tread 

the dear green fields again; 
We are set free to love and live, forgetting 

all these years of pain. 

Let us give thanks that pride has fall'n. The 

evils that the wicked shape 
Come by one road, but God has made a 

myriad pathways of escape. 

(They leave the stage here.) 
And when the evil presses worst, seeming to 
triumph over good, 



ESTHER 107 

There comes, as here, the thing that saves, 
by secret ways not understood. 

{They pass away.) 

CURTAIK. 



BERENICE 



A Tragedy by 
RACINE. 



PERSONS 



Titus 

Berenice 

Antiochus 

Paulinus 

Arsaces 

Phenice 

rutilius 



BERENICE 



ACT I. 

Antiochus. 
Let us stay here a moment. I can see 
That all this stately palace is unknown 
To you, Arsaces. 

This lonely room is where the Emperor comes 
To find some quiet from the cares of Court. 
Here sometimes, too, he comes to see the 

Queen: 
The Queen's apartments lie beyond that door. 
And now, Arsaces, go to see the Queen, 
And tell her that I beg that she will grant 
What I dare ask, some secret words with me. 
Say I regret to be importunate. 

Arsaces. 

You, Lord, importunate? You, her faithful 

friend ; 

111 



112 BERENICE 

You, generously careful of her interests; 
You, that Antiochus who loved her once, 
One of the greatest Kings in all the East! 
Even if she be about to marry Titus, 
Does that put such a distance 'twixt you two? 

Antiochus. 
No. Go, my friend. Mind not those other 

matters; 
See if I may but speak with her alone. 

{Exit Arsaces.) 
Alas, Antiochus! Can I ever dare 
To tell the Queen I love her? Why, I 

tremble 
Already, and my agitated heart 
Now fears the moment it so much desired. 
Queen Berenice has left me without hope; 
She ordered me never to speak of love. 
Five years I have been silent, five long years. 
Hiding my love under a veil of friendship. 
And now to-day I have to speak with her. 



BERENICE 113 

Titus, they say, is marrying her to-day. 

But can I think that she whom Titus plans 

To make his Empress, will be kind to me 

More than she was of old in Palestine? 

Titus is marrying her, and at the altar 

I come to tell her that I love her too. 

What good can come to me from telling her? 

Ah ! I must go and not displease her thus. 

I will withdraw, and go, and without speak- 
ing 

Pass far away from her — forget her — die. 

{Pause.) 

I cannot always suffer from such torment. 

Nor shed these secret tears unknown to her 

And lose her, through the fearing her dis- 
pleasure. 

Oh, lovely Queen, and why should you be 
vexed? 

I do not come to beg you not to marry ; 

I do not come to beg that you should love me, 



114 BERENICE 

Ah ! woe is me ! I only come to say 

That now, even now, 

After so long being certain that my rival 

Would find some fatal drawback to his mar- 
riage, 

I find that I was wrong; that all can be, 

And that your marriage now is being pre- 
pared. 

Oh, sad example of long constancy! 

After five years of love and empty hope 

I am still faithful, though I hope no longer. 

She could not blame me, she will pity me. 

Whatever happens I will speak to her. 

Alas! what can a hopeless lover fear. 

Having resolved to see her face no more? 

{Enter Arsaces.) 
Can I go in, Arsaces? 

Arsaces. 
Lord, I have seen the Queen — 
I only pierced the crowd with difficulty; 



BERENICE 115 

She is surrounded with adoring people 

Drawn to her palace by her coming greatness. 

Titus has ceased his mourning for his father 

And takes to wooing, and the rumour goes 

That before night the happy Berenice 

Will change the title "Queen'' for that of 

"Empress." 

Antiochus. 
Alas! 

Arsaces. 
But how can such news trouble you? 

Antiochus. 
So, then, I cannot speak alone with her? 

Arsaces. 
Lord, you will see her. She has been informed 
That you would see her here at once alone. 
She granted your desire with a look, 
And doubtless waits a favourable moment 
To escape the crowds of courtiers that sur- 
round her. 



116 BERENICE 

Antiochus. 
Enough. And those important orders 

given — 
Have you fulfilled them? 

Arsaces. 
Lord, you know my zeal. 
There are some ships prepared in Ostia har- 
bour 
Ready to sail the instant you command ; 
But whom do you intend to send in them? 

Antiochus. 
One can but go when I have seen the Queen. 

Arsaces. 
Who can but go? 

Antiochus. 
Myself. 

Arsaces. 

You, King Antiochus? 



BERENICE 117 

Antiochus. 
Yes, when I leave this palace, 
I shall leave Rome, Arsaces, and for ever. 

Arsaces. 
I am surprised, and justly. What, great King, 
After Queen Berenice has kept you here 
For three long years, far from your State, in 

Rome; 
Now, when she needs your presence at her 

marriage. 
When her great lover, Titus, marrying her, 
Prepares such glory for her! 

Antiochus. 
Arsaces, leave this talk, it troubles me: 
Let her enjoy her fortune. 

Arsaces. 

Ah, my Lord, 

Her coming glory makes the Queen forget 

you. 

And enmity succeeds friendship betrayed? 



118 BERENICE 

Antiochus. 
Not so. I never hated the Queen less. 

Arsaces. 
What then? Has the new Emperor grown 

proud 
Since his accession, and been cold to you? 
Does any feeling of his change of mind 
Drive you to go from Rome? 

Antiochus. 
Titus has never seemed the colder to me. 
I should be wrong to make complaint. 

Arsaces. 

Why go, then? 

What fancy makes you your own enemy? 

Heaven raises to the throne a Prince who 

loves you, 

A Prince who saw you in the war seek death 

Or glory, in his steps; whose princely courage. 

Helped by yourself, subdued the rebel Jews. 



BERENICE 119 

The Prince remembers well the famous day 
Which ended the long siege. Do you remem- 
ber? 
The enemy quiet in their triple rampart, 
Watching unharmed our impotent attacks, 
And you advancing with the scaling ladders, 
Carrying death among them up the walls? 
That was the day, the day you were near 

death, 
The day when Titus found you almost dead. 
Bleeding from many wounds, and kissed you 

there 
As the most gallant man in the forlorn. 
Now, sir, you ought to wait for your reward 
For all your blood shed then. If you must go 
Back to your kingdom, go not unrewarded. 
Wait till Imperial Caesar sends you back 
Laden with honours as the friend of Rome. 
Can nothing change your mind? You do not 
answer. 



120 BERENICE 

Antiochus. 
What would you have me say? 
I want one moment^s speech with Berenice. 

Arsaces. 
Well, Lord? 

Antiochus. 

Her fate will settle mine. 

Arsaces. 
And how? 

Antiochus. 
I wish to hear her speak about her 
marriage. 
If she admits the rumour to be true, 
If it be true that she will marry Caesar, 
If Titus makes her Empress, I shall go. 

Arsaces. 

What makes this marriage so distasteful to 

you? 

Antiochus. 

When we have gone, I'll tell you. 



BERENICE 121 

Arsaces. 
I am troubled. 

Antiochus. 

Here is the Queen. Good-bye; do as I baae. 

{Enter Berenice and Phenice.) 

Berenice. 

At last I can escape the importunity 

Of all the crowds of friends whom fortune 

makes me. 
I come from all their tedious acclamation 
To find a friend who speaks out of his heart; 
And I have been impatient, for I thought 
You had neglected me. 
I said of old that good Antiochus 
Was constant in his loving care for me; 
He was my friend in good or evil fortune; 
And now to-day, when the gods seem to give 

me 
Honours which I would gladly share with 

him, 



122 BERENICE 

This same Antiochus hides from my sight 
And leaves me to an unknown crowd alone. 

Antiochus. 
Then is it true, this that the rumour says, 
That marriage is to end the long, long court- 
ship? 

Berenice. 

Lord, these last days have been most sorrow- 
ful; 

For this long mourning that the Emperor 
kept. 

Had kept him from me, and his love seemed 
changed 

From those old days when he was always 
with me. 

Now he is silent, troubled, ever weeping. 

His only speeches seem like sad farewells; 

So you can judge of my anxiety. 

Antiochus. 
Now his first tenderness has come again? 



BERENICE 123 

Berenice. 
You saw last night how his religious cares 
Were backed by solemn vote, when in full 

house 
The Senate ranked his Father with the gods? 
His pious mourning now gives place to love, 
To thought for her he loves. At the same 

time. 
Not even telling me of his intention. 
He called the Senate, and by proud decree 
Enlarged the frontiers of my Palestine, 
Joining to it Arabia and Syria. 
And if I can believe the voice of friends 
And his own promises so often given. 
He means to crown me Queen of that ex- 
panse. 
To add to all my titles that of Empress; 
And he is coming here to tell me this. 

Antiochus. 
And I come here to say good-bye for ever. 



124 BERENICE 

Berenice. 
What are you saying? Good-bye? 
And your face changes. 

Antiochus. 
Madam, I have to go. 

Berenice. 
And not say why? 

Antiochus. 
No ; I must go and see her face no more. 

Berenice. 
Speak, Lord! What is the mystery of your 
going? 

Antiochus. 
Then listen to me for the last, last time. 
Lady, if in your high degree of glory 
You ever think about your childhood's home. 
You may remember that I saw you there 
And loved you. 



BERENICE 125 

You may remember, too, how once your 

brother, 
Agrippa, spoke for me, and it may be, 
Perhaps, you were not vexed to hear I loved 

you. 
Then, to my sorrow, Titus came: he saw you. 
He pleased you, for of course he came before 

you 
In all the splendour of a man who bears 
The vengeances of Rome in his two hands, 
Making Judaea pale. 

I think that I was one of those first con- 
quered; 
And then it came to pass that your own lips 
Told me to speak no more of love to you. 
And yet I hoped ; a long, long time I hoped. 
Following like your shadow in the palace. 
And then you made me promise, made me 

swear 
Never to speak again of love to you. 



126 BERENICE 

But when you made me swear, my heart 

knew well 
That I could only love you till I die. 

Berenice. 
You must not say this. 

Antiochus. 

It is five years since I said anything; 
And after this I shall be silent always. 
And then I went with Titus to the wars, 
Hoping to die, or hoping at the least 
That deeds of mine might make you hear my 

name. 
And we were at the war, Titus and I ; 
All that I did was far surpassed by him. 
I came behind in war, even as in love. 
Then, when the war and the long .siege were 

over, 
And the last pale and bloody-featured rebels 



BERENICE 127 

Came from their burnt-out ruins and their 

hunger, 
He came in triumph home, and you with him. 
I stayed behind, and went from place to 

place. 
Where you had been, where I had worshipped 

you; 
But my despair drove me to follow you. 
And Titus welcomed me and brought me 

here. 
And then I hoped — always I had some 

hope — 
That something here might make a way for 

me. 
But now my fate's fulfilled ; your glory comes. 
There will be plenty here to pray for you, 
To watch your glorious crowning, without 

me. 
I could not bring rejoicing, only tears. 
So I shall go, loving you more than ever. 



128 BERENICE 

Berenice. 
I did not think that on my marriage day 
Any man's son would dare make love to me. 
I will forget all that. Ill say farewell. 
God knows that in the honours coming to me 
I hoped that you would watch my happiness, 
Because, like all the world, I honoured you, 
And Titus loved you, and you admired Titus. 
You are like Titus, and a hundred times 
I have been pleased to see your likeness to 

him. 

Antiochus. 
Yes, that is why I go. I go too late. 
Would I had gone before, and spared myself 
This news of Titus and the grief it causes. 
Then I should not have heard you speak his 

name 
Nor known your love for him, but gone, and 

seen 
No more your eyes, which see me every day 



BERENICE 129 

Yet cannot notice me. 

Good-bye. I go. My heart's too full to 

speak ; 

I know that I shall love you till I die. 

Fear not that I shall talk of my misfortune, 

But if you hear that I am dead, then think 

That once I was alive. Good-bye. Good-bye. 

{Exit) 
Phenice. 

Oh, how I pity him ! Such faithfulness 

Deserved more luck, good Lady. Don't you 

pity him? 

Berenice. 
His going so 

Leaves me, I grant you, with a troubled mind. 

Phenice. 
I would have kept him back. 

Berenice. 
I keep him back? ' 

No ; rather would I lose the memory of him. 
Could I encourage such a senseless love? 



130 BERENICE 

Phenice. 
Titus has not yet spoken out his mind. 
Rome looks upon you with most jealous eyes, 
Lady, the rigour of the Roman laws 
Makes me afraid for you. 
Romans can marry none but Roman women. 
Rome hates all royalty, and you are Queen. 

Berenice. 

Phenice, the time for terror is gone by, 

And Titus loves me. He is all-powerful. 

If he but speak, the Senate will salute him 

And crown his statues with the flowering 
laurel. 

Have you not seen the splendours of to- 
night? 

The torches, and the lamps and bonfires 
burning; 

The Eagles of the Army standing ranked ; 

The crowd of Kings, the Consuls and the Sen- 
ate, 



BERENICE 131 

All lending all their glory to my lover. 
Purple and gold and laurels for his victory, 
And all those eyes from every land on earth 
Staring on him alone with greedy looks, 
Watching that splendid port, that gentle 

presence. 
Oh, with what awe and with what gladness 

too, 
All of those hearts assure him of their faith ! 
Can one see this not thinking as I think, 
That even if he had been obscurely bom, 
The world would still have known him as its 

King? 
Now, while all Rome is making prayer for 

Titus, 
And offers sacrifice for the new reign, 
Let us too go and offer prayer for him. 
Then I will go to him, and we shall speak 
All that our full hearts hold for one another. 
Curtain. 



ACT 11. 

(Titus, Paulinus.) 

Titus. 
Has no one seen the King of Comagena, 
Or does he know that I await him here? 

Paulinus. 
Sir, I have seen the Queen. 
The King of Comagena had been with her, 
But had gone out shortly before I came. 
I have left word to warn him of your orders. 

Titus. 
Enough. What was the Queen doing? 

Paulinus. 

Sir, she was going out 

To pray the gods for your prosperity. 

Titus. 
Too kind Princess alas! 

132 



BERENICE 133 

Paulinus. 

Prince, why be sad for her? 

Half of the Eastern world will now be hers. 

You pity her? 

Titus. 

Paulinus, let all leave you here with me. 

{Exit Guards.) 

Alas! Rome is uncertain of my plans 

And waits to know the fortunes of the Queen. 

The secrets of her heart and mine, Paulinus, 

Are now the talk of all the earthly world. 

Now the time comes, I must explain myself. 

What do they say about the Queen and me? 

Speak; what do you hear? 

Paulinus. 
I hear on every side 
About your virtue, Emperor, and her beauty. 

Titus. 
What do they say about my love for her? 
What do they expect from it? 



134 BERENICE 

Paulinus. 

You can do what you please — love — cease to 
love; 

The Court will think as you and take your 
part. 

Titus. 

Yes, I have seen that Court, and close at 
hand. 
That Court too careful to applaud its Mas- 
ter; 

I've seen that Court approve the crimes of 
Nero, 

Go on their knees to him, and consecrate 
him. 

Idolatrous courtiers shall not be my judge; 

I will not lend my ear to flatterers. 

I wish to know, from you, what people say. 

You promise this. Respect and fear for me 

Keep all complaints* from coming to my ears. 

Now, dear Paulinus, let me see and hear; 



BERENICE 135 

Be you my ears and eyes, interpret for me 
The varying hearts of all my countrymen ; 
Let your sincerity bring truth to me 
Across all lies, beyond all flattery. 
Now speak ! What ought Queen Berenice to 

hope? 
Will Rome be cruel or indulgent to her? 
Will Rome be angry if so fair a Queen 
Be raised as Empress to the throne of Caesar? 

Paulinus. 
Lord, there can be no doubt, whatever the 

cause, 
Be it reason or caprice, Rome does not want 

her 
To be the Empress here. They say, of 

course, 
That she is good and beautiful, and seems 
Made to be Empress over human beings; 
They say she has a truly Roman heart, 
And has a thousand virtues; but, my Lord, 



136 BERENICE 

You know the rest. Rome, by unchanging 

law, 
Will have no foreign blood mixed with her 

blood, 
Will recognize no children born of marriage 
Made against Roman custom, Roman law. 
Besides, you know, in banishing her Kings 
Rome took a hatred to the name of King. 
Though Rome is faithful to the race of 

Caesars, 
That hate of Kings and Queens is furious 

stiU. 
For Julius Caesar longed for Cleopatra, 
But dared not marry her. She was a Queen. 
Mark Antony, who made an idol of her, 
Dared never marry her. And since that 

time 
Caligula and Nero, monstrous men. 
Who stamped beneath their feet the laws of 

Rome, 



BERENICE 137 

Still feared that law, and did not dare to 

make 
Marriages hateful to the Roman heart. 
You have commanded me to be sincere — 
Well, in the East, a slave, whom you set free, 
A man still half a slave, a branded man. 
Marked with hot irons, Lord, the freed man 

Pallas, 
Married two Queens of Berenice's blood ; 
And do you think that you could marry her 
Without outraging Rome while men know 

that? 
You, marry her, while three days' sail from 

Rome 
A branded slave, freed from our fetters lately, 
Marries her relatives! 

That is what Romans think about your love. 
It may well be that ere this evening comes 
The Imperial Senate's self will come to you. 
To tell you all that I have told you now. 



138 BERENICE 

To say that Rome falls at your very feet 
And asks that you should make another 

choice 
More worthy her and you. 
You might be thinking of your answer, Lord. 

Titus. 
Alas! they ask me to give up myself. 

Paulinus. 
It is a bitter struggle, I confess. 

Titus. 
Bitterer a thousand times than you can 

think. 
It has been very life to see her here. 
Each day to see her, love her, and to please 

her. 
I have a hundred times given thanks to God 
For bringing all the East beneath my Father 
And putting bleeding Rome into his hands. 
I have desired my dead Father's place, 



BERENICE 139 

Much as I loved him, 

In hope of making Berenice Empress. 

And now, Paulinus, when the time has come, 

In spite of all my love and all her beauty, 

In spite of all my lover's oaths and tears. 

Now that I have Imperial power to crown 

her. 
Now that I love her deeper than before. 
Now that a happy marriage might unite us 
After five years of prayers and hopes and 

love, 
After all these, Paulinus — Oh, ye gods! 

Paulinus. 
What is it, Lord? 

Titus. 

I part from her for ever. 
If I have made you speak to me to-day. 
It was because I wished that your great 
friendship 



140 BERENICE 

Should help to kill my love which dies most 

hard. 
Believe me, it is hard to conquer love ; 
My heart will bleed for more than one day 

yet. 
My love was peace in those first days of love, 
When still my Father was the Emperor, 
I was the master of my fate and free, 
Accounting to myself for my desires; 
But when the gods recalled my Father to 

them, 
My pleasant error was removed from me; 
I felt the heavy load imposed upon me; 
I knew that presently I should be forced 
To give up self and all the loves of self, 
And do the Will of God and not my own. 
And give my life to work, not to myself. 
And now, to-day, Rome watches what I do. 
Shameful to me and ominous to her 
If my first act should scatter every custom 



BERENICE 141 

And build my happiness on broken law. 

I have resolved to make this sacrifice; 

But how prepare Queen Berenice for it? 

How can a man begin? 

These last eight days full twenty times IVe 
tried 

To tell her this, 

But at the first word my poor stumbling 
tongue 

Seemed frozen in my mouth, I could not 
speak. 

I hoped my sorrow and anxiety 

Might make her feel our common misery; 

But she has not suspected and knows noth- 
ing. 

Now I have gathered all my constancy, 

Now I must see her and must tell her all. 

Now I am waiting for Antiochus: 

I shall give him the prize I cannot keep. 

And bid him take her back into the East. 



142 BERENICE 

He will leave Rome to-morrow with the 

Queen, 
And I shall see her now and tell her this, 
I shall now speak to her for the last time. 

Paulintjs. 

Lord, I expected this from your great glory ; 

I knew your heart would not destroy its work, 

That you, the conqueror of so many nations, 

Would conquer all your passions if you 

willed. 

Titus. 

Glory is cruel under its fine names; 

My sad eyes find her lovelier than glory. 

If I have dared the death in seeking glory. 

It was because her beauty lit in me 

A longing for all lovely, splendid things. 

You know quite well I did not always have 

Renown or glory. I'd an evil name. 

My youth was spent within the Court of 

Nero 



BERENICE 143 

And followed ways I love not to recall. 
It was my seeing her that changed my life, 
And to please her I loved, I did strange things 
And came back triumphing. But blood and 

tears 
Were not sufficient to win love from her, 
So then I undertook to help the wretched. 
I was more happy than my tongue can say 
When she was pleased with work that I had 

done. 
I owe her everything, and as reward, 
Reward for all the good that she has done me, 
I shall say "Go, and never see me more." 

Paulinus. 

Sir, do you fear that she will think you 

faithless? 
The very Senate is surprised to think 
How many honours you have given the 

Queen. 



144 BERENICE 

You have given her magnificence of power, 
Up to Euphrates you have made her Queen 
Over a hundred peoples. 

Titus. 

But petty solace for a grief so great. 
I know the Queen ; I know only too well 
That she has asked for nothing but my heart. 
I loved her, she loved me; and since that 

day— 
I cannot say if it were glad or sorry — 
Her life has had no object but her love. 
Unknown at Court, a stranger here in Rome, 
She passes all her days with no more thought 
Save that she see me some time, and the rest 
Expect to see me. 

And if, as sometimes happens, I am late, 
I find her weeping. 

All that there is most powerful in love — 
Joy, beauty, glory, virtue, are in her. 



BERENICE 145 

For five long years each day that I have seen 

her 
Has given me the joy the first sight had. 
Let's think no more, because the more I 

think, 
The more my made up mind shakes in its 

purpose. 
Once more, once more, one must not think 

about it. 
I know my duty and must follow it, 
Whether I live or die is no great matter. 

{Enter Rutilius.) 

RUTILIUS. 

My lord, Queen Berenice would speak with 

you. 

Titus. 

Paulinus — 

Paulinus. 

So, Lord, you seem all ready to draw back. 

Remember all your noble plans; it's time. 



146 BERENICE 

Titus. 
Well, let us see her. Let her enter there. 

{Enter Berenice.) 
Berenice. 
Do not be vexed if with a too great zeal 
I break the secret of your solitude. 
While your Court rings with all your gifts 

to me, 
Would it be right were I to hold my peace? 
Your mourning time is past; you are alone. 
And none can hinder you ; and yet, my Lord, 
You do not come to see me as of old. 
I hear you offer me another crown, 
Yet hear it not from you. Give me more 

love, 
Give me less glory, Lord. Can your love 

show 
Only through orders of the Senate, then? 
Ah, Titus! what new care does your love 

bring me? 



BERENICE 147 

Can it give naught but princedoms? Ah! 

Since when 
Have you believed that greatness touches 

me? 
A look, a sigh, a word out of your mouth, 
Makes the ambition of a heart like mine. 
See me more often, do not give me things. 
Are all your moments given to the Empire? 
After eight days have you no word to say? 
Lord, reassure my trouble with a word. 
Did you then speak of me when I surprised 

you? 
Lord, was I at the least within your thought? 

Titus. 

Doubt it not, Lady. I attest the gods 
That you are ever present in my thought. 
I swear that never absence, self, nor time, 
Can tear you from this heart that worships 
you. 



148 BERENICE 

Berenice. 
You swear eternal worship, but you swear 
Most coldly. Why bring in the gods to 

witness? 
Did you want oaths to overcome mistrust? 
My heart does not contain mistrust of you; 
I should believe you on a simple sigh. 

Titus. 
Lady! 

Berenice. 
Well, Lord? But what, you do not answer. 
You turn your eyes and seem confounded, 

Sire. 
Can you not see me, save with looks of grief? 
Does your mind always mourn your Father's 

death? 
Can nothing charm away this eating care? 

Titus. 
Would God my Father lived still, 
I'd be happy! 



BERENICE 149 

Berenice. 

Lord, this mourning 
Justly proceeds from piety; but now 
You have paid tribute to his memory 
Enough ; you owe now other cares to Rome. 
I dare not speak to you about myself, 
But formerly I could bring peace to you, 
And you have listened to me even with pleas- 
ure. 
You mourn a father still (alas, poor grief!) 
While I, the memory makes me shudder still: 
They would have dragged me from the man 

I love, 
Dragged me, whose broken-heartedness you 

know 
When you have left me even for a day. 
I think that I should die upon the day 
That they forbade me see you. 

Titus. 
Lady, alas! what do you say to me? 



150 BERENICE 

What time is this for speech ? For pity, stop ! 
I am unworthy and your goodness kills me. 

Berenice. 
Unworthy, Lord ! How could you be? 
Does what you call my goodness weary you? 

Titus. 
No, Lady, never. But since I must speak, 
My heart seems burning in a living fire. 

Berenice. 

Go on. 

Titus. 
Alas! 

Berenice. 
Speak! 

Titus. 

Rome, the Empire — 

Berenice. 

Well? 

Titus. 
We^ll go, Paulinus — I cannot speak to her! 
{Exit Titus and Paulinus.) 



BERENICE 151 

Berenice. 
What, leave me thus and never say the rea- 
son! 
What fatal thing is this? What have I done? 
What does he want? What does this silence 

mean? 

Phenice. 

It seems more strange the more one thinks 

on it. 

Does anything come to your memory 

That might have prejudiced him against you, 

Lady? 

Berenice. 

Believe me, dear. 
When I recall the memories of the past. 
From when I saw him first to this sad day, 
Loving him well has been my only fault. 
Could I have said a thing that has displeased 

him? 
Have I with too much warmth returned his 

gifts? 



152 BERENICE 

Or blamed his depth of mourning for his 

Father? 
Or is it that he fears the hate of Rome? 
He fears, perhaps; he fears to wed a Queen! 
Alas! if that were true, — but no! so often 
He has declared to me a hundred times 
His love is stronger than their cruel laws — 
A hundred times. He must explain his 

silence. 
I cannot live in this uncertainty; 
I could not live, thinking that I had hurt 

him, 
Or that he did not care. Wait, let me think ! 
Now that I think, it seems explained to me. 
He knows the love of King Antiochus, 
Perhaps that vexes him. And I was told 
That he expects Antiochus even now. 
Let us not seek elsewhere the explanation ; 
Doubtless the trouble that alarms him so 
Is but a light suspicion easily killed. 



BERENICE 153 

Would Heaven, Titus, that a rival came, 
A man more powerful than you, to tempt me, 
To put more Empires at my feet than you, 
To buy my love with sceptres numberless. 
While you had nothing for me but your 

love — 
Ah ! then, dear Titus, you would see the price 
I put upon my heart. But come, Phenice, 
Let us be quiet, for he loves me still. 
And I do wrong to count myself unhappy. 
If he be jealous, 'tis a sign of love. 

Curtain. 



ACT III. 

(Titus, Antiochus, Arsaces.) 

Titus. 
So you are going, Prince? What sudden 

cause 
Presses your going? (One might call it 

flight.) 
You hide from me imtil you say good-bye. 
Come, do you leave us as an enemy? 
What will the Court, what will the Empire 

say? 
Come! as your friend, have you a grudge 

against me? 
Have I neglected you in all this crowd 
Of Kings and Sovereigns pressing in the 

Court? 
You were my friend during my Father's life, 

154 



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I 



BERENICE 155 

Friendship was all I had to give you then. 
Now, when my friendship has so much to 

give, 
You fly from me. 

Come, can you think that I forget old friends 
And think about my greatness more than 

them, 

And cast them off as things of no more use? 

Prince, you are more than ever needful to me. 

Antiochus. 

I, Lord? 

Titus. 

Yes, you. 

Antiochus. 
Alas, Sir, what can you expect but prayer 
From an unhappy Prince? 

Titus. 
Prince, I remember that my victory 
Owed half its glory to your gallant deeds. 
Rome has seen many of your captives pass, 



156 BERENICE 

And in the Capitol the spoils you took 
Even from the Jews. 
Now I expect from you no deeds of war, 
Only your voice. I know that Berenice 
Counts you her one true friend now here in 

Rome; 
You, only, make one heart and soul with us. 
Now, in the name of this most constant 

friendship 
I bid you use the power you have upon her. 
See her on my behalf. 

Antiochus. 

I? See the Queen? 
Sir, I have said farewell to her for ever. 

Titus. 
See her but once again for me, Antiochus. 

Antiochus. 
Lord, you must speak to her. She worships 
you. 



BERENICE 157 

Why rob yourself of such a charming task? 
Sir, she is waiting for you with impatience. 
I answer, Sir, for her obedience. 
She herself told me, she will marry you: 
You need but see her. Sir, for she is won. 

Titus. 

Time was, so sweet a speech would have 
seemed sweet; 

I should have been most happy. Even to- 
day 

I thought to be most happy ; yet to-day 

I have to leave her, Prince. 

Antiochus. 
Leave her? You, Lord? 

Titus. 

Such is my destiny. 
This is no marriage day for her and Titus; 
I pleased myself in vain with that sweet hope. 



158 BERENICE 

Now, Prince, to-morrow she must sail with 

you. 

Antiochus. 

Heaven! what do I hear? 

Titus. 

Pity my greatness! 
Being Master of the world, I rule her for- 
tune; 

1 can make Kings and then can unmake 

them, 
And yet my heart is not my own to give. 
Rome, ever bitter against Kings, disdains 
An Empress born in the purple with a crown 
And all a hundred Kings for forefathers. 
My heart is free to love some common 

woman, 
Rome would with pleasure see me marry one. 
Even the most worthless in the city bounds — 
Even Julius Caesar bowed to this decree. 
To-morrow, if she still be here, the Romans 



BERENICE 159 

Will come in fury here to bid her go. 
Spare her this insult. Since we must sur- 
render, 
Let us surrender finely. 
My eight days' silence and my absence from 

her 
Must have prepared her for this cruel speech. 
Now at this very time she waits for me 
To tell her of the trouble of my heart. 
Now spare my heart the pain of telling her. 
Go to her and explain my misery : 
Above all, beg that I may keep from her. 
Be the one witness of her tears and mine. 
Take to her my farewells and bring me hers; 
But let us both avoid that deadly meeting 
That would destroy our last poor constancy. 
And if the hope that I shall always love her 
Can make the bitterness of parting less, 
Swear to her. Prince, I shall be always faith- 
ful 



160 BERENICE 

And carry to my grave my love for her. 

My reign will be a long, long banishment 

If Heaven, not content with taking her, 

Pains me still farther with a long, long life. 

You, who are only linked to her by friend- 
ship, 

Do not abandon her in her distress, 

And let her going back into the East 

Be glorious like a triumph, not a flight. 

And may your friendship last; and let my 
name 

Be often in your quiet talks together. 

Your Kingdoms shall henceforward touch 
each other. 

And the Euphrates be your boundary. 

The Senate will confirm this by a vote. 

I join Cilicia to your Comagena. 

Good-bye! And do not leave my lovely 
Queen. 

She was the one desire of my heart. 



BERENICE 161 

The one thing I shall love till my last breath. 

{Exit Titus.) 

Arsaces. 
So Heaven does justice to you ! You will go, 
But she'll go with you. Heaven does not 

take her, 
But gives her. 

Antiochus. 
Give me the time to breathe! 
It is too great a change and I am shaken : 
All that I love is put into my hands — 
Can I believe what I have heard just now? 
And if I can believe, should I be glad? 

Arsaces. 
But, my great Lord, what can I think of 

you? 
What barrier is there to your happiness? 
A little while ago you came from here 
All shaken from your last farewells with her, 



162 BERENICE 

Going, because her marriage broke your 
heart. 

And now the marriage is the broken thing, 

So what can grieve you now? Go where love 
calls you. 

Antiochus. 

Arsaces, I am charged to take her home. 

For a long time I shall be close to her; 

It may be that in time her heart will change 

And think my perseverance something sweet. 

Titus overwhelms me here with all his great- 
ness: 

No one can be compared to him in Rome; 

But in the East the Queen may count me 
something. 

Arsaces. 
Doubt it not, Lord, all happens as you wish. 

Antiochus. 
Ah! how we glory to deceive ourselves! 



BERENICE 163 

Arsaces. 
And why, "deceive ourselves"? 

Antiochus. 

Ah! I might please her. 
Might it not be that she would hear my love? 
Among her woe, neglected by the world, 
Might she not turn to me and stoop to me 
For help that she would know my love would 
render? 

Arsaces. 

Who could console her better than yourself? 
Her fortune changes. Titus flings her off. 

Antiochus. 

Alas, for that great change! Now I shall 

know 
Even from her tears how much she loves him, 

friend. 
For I shall see her weep, and pity her. 



164 BERENICE 

The only fruit of love that I shall gather, 
Tears, which are not for me. 

Arsaces. 
Why do you thus delight to wound yourself? 
Did ever a brave heart show such a weak- 
ness? 
Open your eyes, my Lord, and bravely think 
How many reasons make the Queen your 

own. 
Since Titus from to-day has cast her off, 
Think thus. The Queen is forced to marry 

you. 

Antiochus. 

Forced? 

Arsaces. 

Yes. But grant her, first, some days for 

tears; 
Let her first rush of sorrow run its course. 
Then all will speak for you; her hate, her 

vengeance, 



BERENICE 165 

Absence of Titus, presence of yourself, 
Time, and three kingdoms that she cannot 

rule — 
Your kingdoms side by side, the better joined. 
Interest, reason, friendship, all things bind 

you. 

Antiochus. 
I breathe again. You give me life, Arsaces, 
It is a happier prospect. Why delay? 
Let us perform what we are bidden do. 
We'll find the Queen, and, since the Emperor 

bids. 
Tell her that Titus now abandons her. 
No; stay! What am I doing? Can I do it? 
I take this cruel task? My heart shrinks 

from it. 
The lovely Berenice to hear from me 
That she is cast aside! Unhappy Queen! 
Who could have thought that this would be 

your fate? 



166 BERENICE 

Arsaces. 
Her anger will not fall on you, but Titus. 
You only speak at his request, my Lord. 

Antiochus. 
No, we'll not see her; we'll respect her grief. 
Plenty will come to tell her of her fall. 
Do you not think she will be sad enough 
To learn to what contempt Titus condemns 

her, 
Without this final thrust, to have the news 
By Titus' only rival? Let us go. 
By going thus we shall escape her hatred. 

Arsaces. 

Sir, here she comes! Think what to do and 

say. 

Antiochus. 
Heaven! 

{Enter Berenice.) 

Berenice. 

So, Lord, you are not gone? 



BERENICE 167 

Antiochus. 
Lady, I see you looked for Caesar here. 
Blame only Caesar if you find me here 
In spite of my farewells. 
Perhaps by this I should have been in Ostia, 
Had he not strictly ordered me to stay. 

Berenice. 
He wanted you alone. He avoids us. 

Antiochus. 
He only kept me here to speak of you. 

Berenice. 
Of me, Prince? 

Antiochus. 
Yes. 

Berenice. 
What could he have to say? 

Antiochus. 
Thousands of other men could tell you better 
Than I. 



168 BERENICE 

Berenice. 
What do you mean? 

Antiochus. 

be not vexed! 
Others at such a moment might not keep 
Silence so well, but would rejoice, perhaps, 
Would swell with pride and joy to break the 

news; 
But I, still trembling; I, as you know well, 
Reckoning your quiet dearer than my own. 
Would rather vex you than distress you, 

Queen. 
I fear your sorrow more than your annoyance. 
Before to-night you will acquit me. Queen. 
Lady, good-bye. 

Berenice. 
But what strange speech! stay! 
O Prince, I cannot keep my grief from you. 
You see before you a distressful Queen, 



BERENICE 169 

Whose heart seems killed, who only asks two 

words. 
I think you said you feared to vex my quiet, 
And therefore will not speak. 
Lord, if my peace of mind be precious to you, 
If I were ever precious in your eyes. 
Lighten the darkness that is on my soul. 
What did the Emperor say to you? 

Antiochus. 

O, Lady, 
For God's sake! 

Berenice. 
Is my heart's wish so little to you, then? 
Antiochus. 
And if I speak, you will forever hate me. 

Berenice. 
I beg you speak. I order you to speak. 

Antiochus. 
Ogods! 

Lady, once more, you'll wish I had not 

spoken. 



170 BERENICE 

Berenice. 
Prince, either calm my mind by speaking 

now, 
Or be assured that here our friendship ends. 

Antiochus. 
Queen, after that, I cannot remain silent. 
So, since you wish it, I will break the news. 
Have no illusions now. For I shall tell you 
Miseries, perhaps, of which you dared not 

think. 
I know your very heart. Now be prepared. 
For I shall strike your heart's most tender 

place. 
Titus has ordered me. ... 

Berenice. 

What has he ordered? 

Antiochus. 
To say to you, that you . . . that you and 

he. . . . 
That you and he must separate, forever. 



BERENICE 171 

Berenice. 
Separate? What? Who? I and he, you 
say? 

Antiochus. 
Lady, let be. I must be just to him. 
All that a loving and a generous heart 
Could hold of wild despair in its worst mo- 
ment. 
Was there in Titus' heart. He wept. He 

loves you. 
But little serves it if he love you still : 
The Roman Empire dreads to have a Queen, 
So you must separate. You go to-morrow. 

Berenice. 
Go! Misery! Phenice! 

Phenice. 

Ah, blessed Lady, 
This is a bitter blow! It daunts your soul. 
Show your soul's greatness. 



172 BERENICE 

Berenice. 
Titus to leave me after all his vows, 
Titus, who swore to me ! I cannot think it ! 
He cannot leave me. 
Perhaps they turn his innocent mind against 

me, 
Some trap is made to tear us from each other, 
For Titus loves me, he does not wish my 

death. 
Go now and see him, I would speak with him. 
Go! 

Antiochus. 
And you could look at me, and think that 

I— 

Berenice. 
You long for this too well to persuade me. 
Know, I do not believe you. But true or 

false. 
Keep you forever from my sight henceforth. 
Do not you leave me, Phenice, I am faint. 



BERENICE 173 

Help me, good Phenice, put your arm here — 
so. 

{Exeunt Berenice and Phenice.) 

Antiochus. 

Do I deceive myself? I heard her rightly? 

"Keep me forever henceforth from her sight!'' 

I think I shall, for should I not have gone 

Had Titus not against my will restrained me? 

She thought to hurt me, but her hate has 

helped me. 

You saw me going sick with hopeless love. 

Jealous and in despair and wild of head ; 

And now, Arsaces, after this dismissal 

Perhaps I may set out with resignation. 

Arsaces. 

No, Lord; that less than ever. You must 

stay. 

Antiochus. 

I stay? To see myself disdained! 

See myself punished for the guilt of Titus! 



174 BERENICE 

With what injustice and indignity- 
She doubted of my truth. 
She said that Titus loved her, I betrayed her! 
Ungrateful Queen, to reckon me a traitor! 
At such a time, too ; at the fatal moment 
When I was telling of my rival's sorrow. 
When to console her I had made him seem 
Loving and true, more than he is, perhaps. 

Arsaces. 
Lord, what a pain you take to grieve yourself! 
Let her grief go. Let its first anguish pass, 
For in a week or month it will be passed. 
Stay till it passes. 

Antiochus. 

No, I go, Arsaces. 
All things excite me to be gone from here, 
So let us go. And for a long, long time 
Let us not speak of her. 
The day is not yet over. Go now, you; 



BERENICE 175 

See if her grief has not brought death to her. 
Run! I will wait until you come to me; 
We'll know if she's* alive before we start. 

Curtain. 



ACT IV. 

Berenice. 
Phenice is late. How slowly the time passes! 
The bitter time ! My strength is going from 

me. 
Yet rest seems death to me. How late 

Phenice is! 
It is ill-omened, and it frightens me. 
It means that she will have no message for 

me, 

That cruel Titus has not heard her speak, 

But flies from her. 

(Enter Phenice.) 

Dear Phenice, have you seen the Emperor? 

What did he say? When will he come? 

Phenice. 

I saw him. Lady, 

Told him the trouble of your soul, and saw 

His tears. 

176 



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BERENICE 111 

Berenice. 
And is he coming? 

Phenice. 

Doubt not, madam, 
He^s coming; but you cannot see him thus; 
You are disordered, madam; calm yourself, 
And let me raise these fallen veils of lawn 
And scattered hairs with which your eyes are 

hidden, 
And marks of tears. 

Berenice. 

No, leave them, Phenice; he shall see his 
work. 

What use are these vain ornaments to me? 

If all my love and tears and sighs and sor- 
row — 

Nay, if my certain death can call him not. 

How shall these useless helps of beauty call 
hun? 

They do not call him now. 



178 BERENICE 

Phenice. 

Why be unjust? 
I hear a noise — the Emperor is coming. 
Let us go in ; we must avoid his courtiers, 
See him alone, within. 

(They go off.) 
(Enter Titus, Paulinus and Company.) 

Titus. 

Go to the Queen, Paulinus. I will see her. 
Leave me alone a little while; now go. 

Paulinus. 

(Going.) 
I fear this seeing the Queen ! 

Gods, save his glory and the country's honour. 

Now for the Queen! 

(Exit Paulinus.) 

Titus. 

(Alone.) 
Titus, the time has come; what will you do? 



BERENICE 179 

Have you prepared farewells, and steeled 

your heart 
And braced it to the pitch of cruelty? 
For in this bitter struggle now prepared 
You need not bravery, but barbarism. 
Now you will see her beauty all in tears; 
And seeing that, can I fulfil my duty, 
And break the heart I love, the heart that 

loves me. 
And cast her off for ever? 
Why should I break that heart? Who bids 

me? I do. 
Yet why? Has Rome declared her wishes 

tome? 
Does the mad rabble roar around the palace? 
And do I see the State at the cliff's brink? 
And can I only save her by this yielding? 
All's quiet here, and I, too swift, too swift 
To torture self, perhaps imagine evils 
That I could thrust aside. 



180 BERENICE 

Is there no other means but this to save it? 

Would they not see the virtue of the Queen? 

Would they not presently confess her Ro- 
man? 

After such tears and love and faithfulness 

Rome would be kind to us. — Ah, no! not 
Rome! 

Hatred of Kings is stamped in every soul, 

And cannot be effaced by fear or love. 

Rome, casting out her Kings, condemned 
your Queen. 

Coward I am. I love. Give up the Empire, 

Go to the wide world's end, and live with her; 

Make place for those more fit than I to reign. 

Yes, but are these those deeds in the great 
style, 

That were to crown me in men's memories? 

Now I have reigned eight days, and till this 
day 

I have done all for love, nothing for honour. 



BERENICE 181 

Now I must do what honour asks of me 
And break the only link that hinders me. 

{Enter Berenice.) 

Berenice. 
Leave me, I say ! you cannot keep me back, 
I must speak with him. So, Lord, you are 

here ! 
Well, is it true that Titus casts me off? 
That we must part, that Titus orders it? 

Titus. 
Lady, have pity on a wretched Prince. 
We must not here give way to tenderness; 
I have sufficient bitterness at heart 
Without your tears to torture me still more. 
Recall that heart, which many times of old 
Showed me my duty; for the time has come; 
But by your love, look simply at my duty 
And fortify my heart against yourself, 
And help me overcome my love for you. 
Duty demands that we must separate. 



182 BERENICE 

Berenice. 
You tell me this! I felt sure that you loved 

me! 
My soul that loved you only lived for you. 
Were you then ignorant of your Roman laws 
When for the first time I confessed my love? 
Why did you not, then, say "Oh, wretched 

Queen, 
There is no hope ! Why pledge your love to 

me? 
Give not your heart to one who cannot take 

it." 
But no, you took it, but to fling it back. 
When that poor heart was living but for you. 
Full twenty times they have conspired 

against us: 
Then was the time — why not have cast me 

then? 
There were a thousand things against me 

then 



BERENICE 183 

That might have helped console me in my 

grief. 
I could have blamed your Father, all the 

Romans, 
The Senate and the Empire, all the world, 
Rather than this dear hand. 
I should not then have had this cruel blow, 
Even when I hoped to be most happy here. 
Here, when your love can do all that it wishes 
When Rome is silent and your Father dead 
And all the world is bowing at your feet — 
When I have nothing more to fear — then 

you— 
You spurn me. 

Titus. 
It wag myself who thus destroyed myself, 
I was content to live, to let myself 
Be charmed; my heart would never search 

the future 
For what might one day disunite us two. 



184 BERENICE 

I willed that nothing should o'er come by 
wishes. 

Examined nothing, hoped the impossible ; 

Perhaps for death rather than these fare- 
wells. 

The very obstacles increased my love. 

And Empire spoke but glory had not spoken 

As yet, within my heart, in the clear tone 

With which it stirs the hearts of Emperors. 

I know the torments that this parting brings, 

I know too well I cannot live without you. 

But this is not a question now of living; 

I have to reign. 

Berenice. 

Then reign, harsh King, and be content with 

glory. 
I will not vex you. No ; I only waited 
Before I would believe that those same lips 
After a thousand oaths of love for me, 



BERENICE 185 

Would order me away for evermore. 

I wished to hear you say it in this place. 

Now nothing more. Good-bye for ever, then. 

For ever, Sir, it is a cruel word 

When one's in love. 

A month will come, a year will come, and 

we — 
We shall be parted by a world of seas. 
How shall we suffer when the day begins 
And the sun climbs the sky and then declines, 
And Titus will not see his Berenice. 
And all day long she will not look on Titus! 
Perhaps you will not feel those days so long; 
They may be long for me, too short for you. 

Titus. 
Lady, I shall not live for many days; 
I hope that presently news of my death 
Will show you that I cannot live without you, 
Will make you own, that you were loved in- 
deed. 



186 BERENICE 

Berenice. 
If that be true, why should we separate? 
I do not speak of marriage with you now : 
Rome has condemned me not to see you 

more: 
But do you envy me the air you breathe? 

Titus. 
You can do all things, Lady. Stay, if you 

wish ; 
I'll not forbid it; but I feel my weakness; 
It would be endless- struggle, endless fear. 
And endless watching to restrain my steps 
From turning towards your beauty all day 

long. 
I cannot speak, my heart forgets itself, 
Remembering only that it loves you dearly. 

Berenice. 
Well, Lord, and what could happen if I 
stayed? 



BERENICE 187 

Would all your Romans rise against me, 

Lord? 

Titus. 

Who knows? Suppose they did? Suppose 
they clamoured? 

I should be forced to back my choice by 
blood; 

And if they did not speak and did not rise, 

They would expect that some day I should 
pay them. 

What would they not demand for their com- 
plaisance? 

How can I guard the laws I cannot keep? 

Berenice. 
You count the tears of Berenice for nothing? 

Titus. 
That is unjust. 

Berenice. 
Unjust? For unjust laws, that you can 
change, 



188 BERENICE 

You would condemn yourself to lifelong grief. 
You say Rome has her rights. Have you not 

yours? 
And are Rome's interests dearer than our 

own? 
Come, speak! 

Titus. 
Alas, my Queen, you torture me! 

Berenice. 
You are the Emperor, Lord, and yet you 
weep. 

Titus. 
Yes, Lady, it is true. I weep. I shudder. 
When I accepted here the Emperor's purple, 
Rome made me swear to maintain all her 

laws. 
I must maintain them. Already many times 
Rome has most strictly proved her Em- 
perors; 



BERENICE 189 

They have obeyed her orders to the death 
To their sons^ deaths. Rome and the glory 

of Rome 
Have won the victory in those Roman hearts; 
And I, in leaving you, do as they did, 
But think I pass them in austerity. 

Berenice. 

All things seem easy to your barbarism. 
I will not speak again of staying here. 
Think you I would have wished, ashamed, 

despised. 
To stay among the mocks of those who hate 

me? 
Do not expect me to break out against you. 
But if the gods have pity of my tears. 
And if your harsh injustice touches them. 
And if before I die I, the sad Queen, 
Wish for some bold avenger of my death, 
I seek that bold avenger in your heart — 



190 BERENICE 

My love, my love that cannot be effaced, 

My present grief and my past happiness. 

Are the enemies that I will leave you, Lord. 

I leave my vengeance unto them. Good-bye. 

{Exit) 
Paulinus. 

Lord, she has gone. Will she then leave the 

country? 

Titus. 

Paulinus, follow her. I think she is dying. 

Run to her help. 

Paulinus. 
My Lord, her women will be round her there, 
They'll turn her thoughts. Fear not, the 

worst is over. 
Go on, my Lord, the victory is yours: 
I know you could not hear her without pity ; 
I couldn't keep from pity even in seeing her — 
But you must take long views, and you must 

know 



BERENICE 191 

That happiness will come from this brief 

pain: 
All the wide world will ring with praise of 

you. 

Titus. 
I hate myself! I am a brute! Even Nero 
Was not so cruel. Oh, I cannot bear it! 
If Berenice should die! 
Come, let Rome say what it may. 

Paulinus. 
What, Lord? 

Titus. 
I know not what I say. 
Excess of trouble overwhelms my spirit. 

Paulinus. 
Do not be troubled for what Rome will say. 
The news that she has gone is spread abroad ; 
Rome, which was murmuring, is triumphing, 
The altars are all smoking in your honour, 



192 BERENICE 

And in the streets the crown, singing your 

virtues, 
Crown all your statues with eternal laurel. 

Titus. 
Ah, Rome! Ah, Berenice! Unhappy fate, 
To be a lover and an Emperor! 

{Enter Antiochus cmd Arsaces.) 

Antiochus. 
What have you done, my Lord? For Berenice 
Is perhaps dying in Phenice's arms — 
Hears and knows nothing, but cries out for 

death ; 
And you alone, my Lord, can save her life. 
Lord, why delay? Go, show yourself to her, 
And speak one word. 

Titus. 

And what word can I say? 
{Enter Rutilius.) 



BERENICE 193 

RUTILIUS. 

Lord, all the Tribunes, both the Consuls, and 

The Conscript Fathers of the Roman Senate, 

With one voice in the State's name call for 

you. 

A great impatient crowd is with them. Lord; 

They wait your presence in your audience 

chamber. 

Titus. 

I hear you. great gods, I beg you save 

That heart so like to die! 

Paulinus. 

Come, then, my Lord, we will attend the 

Senate. 

Antiochus. 

Go to the Queen first. 

Paulinus. 
My Lord, you cannot! 'Twere indignity, 
It were an insult to delay your coming, 
Trampling the majesty of Rome beneath you. 



194 BERENICE 

Titus. 
Enough, Paulinus, I will hear the Senate. 

{Turns to Antiochus.) 
Prince, this is duty not to be put by; 
Go, see the Queen. I hope on my return 
She will not doubt my love. 

Curtain. 



ACT V. 

Arsaces. 
Where shall I find this all too faithful Prince? 
Heaven grant that at this moment I may tell 

him 
Of happiness such as he dare not hope. 
Oh, happy chance, he comes! Sir, the Queen 
starts — 

Antiochus. 
She starts? 

Arsaces. 
She starts this evening. 
She is most hurt that Titus leaves her there 
So long in tears. She is not angry now, 
But she renounces Rome and Emperor both, 
And would be gone before the Romans see 
her 

195 



196 BERENICE 

In her distress, and glory in her flight. 
She writes to Caesar. 

Antiochus. 

And Titus? 

Arsaces. 
Titus has not appeared before the Queen, 
For the great crowd of Romans rings him 

round, 
Shouting the titles that the Senate gives him. 
Those titles, and the crowd, and that ap- 
plause. 
Become so many honourable chains 
To keep him from the Queen and steel his 

heart. 
In spite of all the sad Queen^s sighs and tears, 
I think perhaps he will not see her more. 

Antiochus. 
Fortune has played with me, and many times 
I have seen all my plans blown by the wind; 



BERENICE 197 

My heart scarce hopes, lest it should anger 

Fortune. 

But Titus comes. 

{Enter Titus.) 
Titus. 

Let no one follow me. 

Prince, I am come to keep my promise here — 

Come with a broken heart. I wish to see her. 

Antiochus. 
So dies the hope that you had given me! 

{Enter Berenice and Phenice.) 

Berenice. 

I do not wish to hear. My mind's made up ; 

I wish to go. Why show yourself to me? 

Why bring more bitterness to my despair? 

Aren't you content? I do not wish to see 

you. 

Titus. 
Please listen ! 

Berenice. 

The time's past. 



198 BERENICE 

Titus. 

Lady, a word! 
Berenice. 
No, not a word. You wish that I should go; 
1 am resolved to go, and I shall go. 

Titus. 

No, stay. 

Berenice. 

Why should I stay? 

To hear the people cheer for my misfortune? 

Do you not hear their cruel joy already? 

What have I done to them that they should 

cheer? 

What have I done — save love yourself too 

weU! 

Titus. 

It is a senseless crowd. Why listen to it? 

Berenice. 
There's nothing here that does not wound my 
heart. 



BERENICE 199 

This room where we were lovers, you and I, 
Come, Phenice. 

Titus. 

You are unjust to me. 

Berenice. 

You must go back, Lord, to the sacred Senate 

Which now applauds you for your cruelty. 

Are you content with what they say and 
vote? 

And have you promised to forget my mem- 
ory— 

That will not expiate your love for me. 

Have you made promise that youll hate me 
always? 

Titus. 
No, I have promised nothing. my gods! 
Lady, for five years you and I have loved; 
I never loved you better than to-day, 
Never so tenderly, never so dearly. 



200 BERENICE 

Berenice. 
"You loved/' and yet at your command I go. 
Do you find beauty in my heart's despair? 
What use to me your heart's most useless 

love? 
Show me less love for very pity's sake, 
And let me at the least set forth persuaded 
That I am leaving one who is not sad 
To see me go. 

(Titus reads a letter.) 
That is a letter that I wrote to you ; 
Read it, most cruel one, and let me go. 

Titus. 
You shall not go ! I cannot grant you leave. 
No, for your going is a stratagem. 
You mean to kill yourself, and all I love 
Will be a bleeding memory. 

(Berenice jails upon a chair.) 
Call for Antiochus. Let him quickly come. 
Lady, when first I knew we had to part, 



BERENICE 201 

I braced my soul for great unhappiness, 
But did not once foresee the tiniest part 
Of what I suffer now. 

Some minutes since I met assembled Rome, 
The Senate spoke to me, I did not hear, 
I did not know if I were Emperor, 
Or even a Roman, and I did not care. 
Lady, I might say this: that I am ready 
To give up Rome for you and follow you. 
Even to the wide world's end to live with you. 
But you yourself would blush if I said that. 
You would not, without shame behold me so. 
See me a worthless Emperor, without Empire, 
March in your train, a spectacle to men. 
No, to escape these torments of the soul 
There is a nobler way, as you know well. 
Which men too shaken by misfortune take 
When sorrow upon sorrow following close, 
Comes like a secret order to surrender. 
If I be forced to watch your sorrow, lady, 



202 BERENICE 

If I be forced to see you long for death, 
If I be forced always to dread your death, 
As dread I must unless you swear to me 
To spare your life, then look for other sorrow. 
In this my state I can do anything. 
I will not answer that my hand, before you 
Put not a bloody end to this oUr parting. 

Berenice. 
Alas. 

Titus. 

No. There is nothing that I could not do. 

So, madam, think that you control my life 

And if I still am dear to you — 

{Enter Antiochus.) 

Come, Prince, come in ! 

I have sent for you to be my witness, 

For to judge if I have loved untenderly. 

Antiochus. 
Lord, you have honoured me with your 
esteem, 



BERENICE 203 

And I can tell you here, Lord, I have been 

A faithful friend to you — 

A faithful friend although I was a rival. 

Titus. 
My rival! 

Antiochus. 

Yes, it's time I told you that. 

Lord, I have always worshipped Berenice, 

Have striven to kill my love, but could not 

do it. 
At least I could be silent, and I was. 
Your change of heart gave me some feeble 

hope; 
But the Queen's tears have wiped away that 

hope. 
She asked to see you, and I called you. Lord, 
And you came back. You love her. She loves 

you. 
I pray the gods to keep their blows from you, 
Or cast them upon me, whose life is yours. 



204 BERENICE. 

Berenice. 
Too generous Princes, I am in despair! 
Titus, you know my heart; I can say truly 
I never longed for greatness nor for glory. 
I loved — I loved and wished to be beloved. 
I thought your love had come unto its end. 
I know my error now. I know you love me. 
I am not worth your trouble, nor deserve 
That marrying me your Empire should be 

broken. 
I think that for five years until to-day 
My love for you has been a real love. 
That is not all. Now, in this fatal moment, 
By a last effort I must crown the rest; 
I shall obey your orders to the last. 
Good-bye, Sir. Reign. I shall not see you 

more, 
Prince, after this farewell, you must be sure 
I cannot listen to another's love; 
But live, and make an effort like our own. 



BERENICE 205 

I love him, he loves me, and yet we part. 
Go, Sir, far from me, and forget your love. 
Good-bye. We'll be example to all time 
Of the most tender and unhappy love 
That ever was in dolorous history. 
All is made ready. They are waiting for me. 
No, follow not my steps. Good-bye! 
For the last time, good-bye, Lord. 

{Exit) 
Antiochus. 
Woe is me! 

Curtain. 



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